Close to Home
by Ivy N.O
Summary: Funny thing about the past, it really seems to enjoy biting you in the ass. The plan was simple. Come home, avoid Haninozuka, get by. What Amaya hadn't planned for was being pulled into the world of the host club to help them hunt down men assaulting their guests. Or getting hot and heavy with a particular host. Continued after Anime, may clash with the manga. I don't own OHSHC.
1. Kyoya's guest

_**This is the first chapter of my first fan-fiction. So naturally I would love some feedback. Don't worry I won't break down in tears if you give me constructive criticism :) **_

Kyoya watched the tall blond girl with mild interest. She had arrived in with her friend Hitomi, the second daughter of a very wealthy car manufacturer. Hitomi had come in brimming with the eagerness of a small child, dragging her clearly reluctant friend behind her. Upon arriving the two new guests were greeted by the prince, Tamaki Suoh. Kyoya wasn't entirely sure what had happened but the end result was Tamaki whispering sweet nothings into the little brunettes ear and her nameless blonde companion sitting on one of the couches, alone and clearly bored.

Kyoya scanned the room looking for someone to entertain their latest guest. Haruhi was in the corner surrounded by her usual entourage. Hikaru and Kaoru were currently staring deeply into each other's eyes, girls fawning around them. And Mori and Hunni...

Hmm, Kyoya thought, they're not here. Meaning I am, for lack of a better phrase, the last man standing.

Fixing his most charming smile on his face, the vice president rose to greet his guest.

.

Amaya studied her fingernails as though they were the single most interesting thing in the world. For the hundred time since arriving at this damn host club she checked her watch. Quarter to five. Hitomi said they would leave at five. She sighed, closing her eyes, and rubbed at her temple where she could feel a headache beginning to form.

I wonder, she mused, would anyone notice if I fell asleep here.

"Hello" a voice came from close by. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up to see a tall, handsome boy, with black hair and glasses. A name came to her from the back of her mind.

Kyoya Ootori. Haven't you grown? She thought smiling.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kyoya Ootori, host club vice president. Is there anything I can help you with." He ended with a smile that was so sickeningly sweet it almost made Amaya physically ill.

"No thank you Ootori-san. I'm fine." She replied curtly. She half felt like laughing at the flicker of surprise in Kyoya's onyx eyes. He quickly however recovered and smiled again. My god, he is so fake.

"May I sit with you?" He said gesturing to the couch. Amaya could sense the curious stares from a few girls behind her. Clearly this was an uncommon sight.

So the vice president does not often entertain guests? I wonder why that is, She questioned silently.

"I see no reason why not." She said smiling back at him, although Kyoya noted the smile did not reach her brown eyes. Kyoya waited to see if she would speak again but apparently she was resolved to be silent.

Kyoya gracefully sat down in the couch beside her. "This is your first time at our host club, is it not?"

"Yes and with any luck it'll also be my last." Amaya glanced at him. "No offence intended."

Kyoya raised his eyebrows slightly "None taken. But I fear you haven't really given us a chance. We have many different hosts to suit our guests. Tell me what kind of-"

"Actors"

Kyoya faltered. "I'm sorry"

"You mean you have many different actors to play to your guests fantasies. I know on the surface it seems as though you have a prince, a forbidden love, a sweet heart. But in reality you have a cross dresser, an idiot in love with that cross dresser and two twins who enjoy manipulating young women to feed their ever expanding egos. And of course" She turned to face Kyoya, "A vice president with a smile so fake it looks as though someone screwed it on"

Neither spoke for a few minutes. Kyoya had to admit that she had surprised him. He studied the nameless girl. He felt a small sense of recognition but couldn't place her name. She was beautiful, but then so were many of their guests, beauty seemed to come with money.

After deciding that if he could not remember her name then she was probably of no major importance Kyoya spoke. "You see a lot for someone whose only been here for under an hour."

The girl shrugged "I understand people. And unlike the vast majority of your guests, I don't want to believe the lies your host club sells. Which brings me to my next point. You can't profit from me Ootori. I suggest you go find someone with looser purse strings."

Kyoya closed his eyes and pushed his glasses up his nose "I see. Well in that case there really is no reason for you to be here. Is there?"

Amaya smirked at him "Now we are on the same page." She looked at her watch. "Ah it appears my time of pittance has come to an end" She rose from the couch and Kyoya stood with her. Rude as she may be, she was, after all, a guest. And a most interesting one at that.

"Hitomi." She called. The brown haired, brown eyed girl, turned. "It's five." Hitomi looked crest fallen.

"But, I..." She glanced at Tamaki.

"Don't worry Princess. It won't be long until we see each other again. Although every moment will seem like an eternity without you." Tamaki said cupping the poor girls face in his hand.

"Well isn't that nice." The nameless girl said sarcastically. She grabbed Hitomi's hand and pulled her away. "C'mon princess."

"Good bye. Tamaki." HItomi called back lovingly. "Oh Amaya, isn't he handsome?"

Kyoya froze. _Amaya._

"The handsomest"

"Do you know what he told me. That my name was perfect. That my eyes were truly the most beautiful that he had ever seen."

"Yeah It's not like anyone has ever said that to you before" Amaya laughed pulling open the door.

"See you around Ootori." She called back over her shoulder, before turning around and walking directly into Mori.

"Sorry" Mori said before looking down, his eyes widening suddenly.

Amaya looked up and smiled widely. "Takashi? Haha what are you doing here? Don't tell me you are part of this..." Her voice and grin faded away as she saw the blonde boy sitting on Mori's shoulders.

"Haninozuka" She said her voice suddenly turning dead.

"Amaya-san" Honey said nervously. Mori shifted uncomfortably as Amaya glared at Honey with unashamed dislike. The three regarded each other for a few moments in silence. Even the bubbly Hitomi fell quiet.

"We best be off." Amaya said emotionlessly, her eyes as cold as the atmosphere that had just materialized. "Bye Taka-kun." Amaya pushed past the two cousins, the door closing loudly in the now soundless room.

"Em... Who was that?" Haruhi asked.

Mori opened his mouth at the same time that Kyoya answered "Amaya Morinozuka"

"My sister" Mori added.


	2. The Cast Away

"I didn't know you had a sister, Mori" Tamakai said surprised.

"Yeah" said the twins in unison, "Why didn't you mention her before?"

Mori carried Honey to the couch and sat down. "It wasn't important."

Tamakai looked shocked and began to thoroughly divulge into dramatics. "But how can family not be important! Why without family what are we? How could you disregard her and act though she did not exist? Why it is almost as though-"

"Tama-chan? Shut up." Honey said his voice hard, his face threatening. Suddenly he looked an awful lot more like the martial arts prodigy that they knew him to be. Tamakai went quite, possibly due to shock.

"Honey -Senpai?" Haruhi asked carefully, "Are you okay?"

Suddenly Honey fixed a smile on his face. It seemed unnaturally forced. "Yep, I'm fine it's just that Tama-chan was being stupid is all." He added the last bit with a glance in Tamakai's direction who, after being insulted, ran into a corner and started growing mushrooms.

"Well if everyone is finished" Kyoya said smoothly, "Our guests are waiting." He looked pointedly at the girls who were watching with increasing nervousness.

Tamakai jumped up and smacked the heel of his hand to his forehead. "Of course how silly of me! I almost forgot about my darling princesses!" He took one girl by the hand and waist and dipped her in his arms. Moving his face in close to the girl's he whispered "Forgive me?"

The girl squealed and commenced furious nodding. The other members of the host club also went turned to their guests. Haruhi casted one last worried glance at Mori and Honey before going back to work.

An hour or so later Haruhi slumped down on the couch between the twins.

"Wow, I'm tired" She sighed leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

"Us too" The twins chimed each of them putting their head on Haruhi's shoulders.

"So am I" Tamakai yawned falling across their laps heavily.

"Ow! Get off senpai." Haruhi complained.

"Yeah boss seriously," Hikaru said,

"What have you been eating?" Kaoru added. The twins pushed him off and he fell to the ground with a crash.

"Ahh!" Tamakai yelped. "Mommy!"

"Yes Daddy?" Kyoya answered from across the room where he typing away on a laptop.

"The twins are monopolizing Haruhi again!"

"Oh? Ask Mori-Senpai to steal her for you" He smiled not looking up.

"Good idea, Mori-Senpai!" Tamakai called.

"Oh no you don't!" The twins said grabbing Haruhi from both sides.

"Hey, let go of me, Mori isn't even coming over!" Haruhi struggled against the twins, before realising something.

"Hey guys? Where is Mori?" Haruhi asked confused.

"Huh? He's over there with..." The twins began before stopping. They looked over at the table where Honey and Mori had been sitting only a few minutes before. Honey was still there, poking at a strawberry on top of a cake but his tall, silent cousin had vanished.

"Em Honey-Senpai, where's Mori-Senpai?" Tamakai asked.

"Hmm? Oh Taka-chan went out to find Amaya-san." Honey said smiling but there was a sadness to his face.

"So why didn't you go with him?" Hikaru questioned.

Honey Looked down at the table with a sad smile, "Amaya-san doesn't like me very much. So I told Taka-Chan to go by himself, he hasn't seen her for a really long time."

"Oh?" Kyoya said looking up from his laptop, "How long?"

"Two years."

"Two years? That's a long time not to see your family." Haruhi said, "But Amaya-san is only, what? 15? 16? How come he hasn't seen her, wouldn't they live together?"

Honey tensed. "Because she, she doesn't... She's not..." He sighed "She doesn't live with Takashi. She's been away."

"For two years? Seems like an awfully long time for a young girl to be away from her family." Kyoya noticed.

"She had to leave." A deep voice came from the door. They turned to see Mori, looking grim.

"Taka-chan" Honey said brightening "Did you find Amaya-san?"

"No. She had already left. Gone home to her apartment."

"Apartment? How old is this girl?" Haruhi exclaimed.

"16." Mori stated blandly. "She is a year and half younger than us" He said, the us being himself and Honey.

"Huh, why isn't she living at home?"

Honey and Mori exchanged a glance before Mori gave the tinniest of nods.

"Amaya-san hates the Haninozukas." Honey explained, "She thinks that we look down on the Morinozukas because they used to work for us. And she thinks that I, that I make Taka-chan..." He didn't finish, but then he didn't need to. If Amaya thought that the Hanionozukas felt they were better than her family than there was only one way she could view Mori's and Honey's relationship.

"So she moved out?" Hikaru asked tilting his head to the left.

"Or was sent out." Kaoru added, his head leaning to the right.

"No, she em, I mean, her and our grandfather didn't get on very well."

"Amaya causes trouble." Mori said almost spitefully. Kyoya smirked slightly to himself as a memory surfaced to the fore front of his mind. Yes, he thought, She most certainly does.

Honey nodded slightly to Mori's remark before continuing, "You see our grandfather was really mad at Mori's and Amaya's mother for marrying a Morinozuka. He said that she shouldn't have brought the family down like that. He wasn't a very nice man." He added.

"Suffice it to say him and Amaya didn't get along very well." Mori put in before sitting down beside Honey and looking out the window. It had started to rain again.

"Then one day, when Taka-chan and I were 14, we had a big family get together. Grandfather was there and so was Amaya. Grandfather started talking about the Haninozuka legacy and the next generation and then he started talking about..."

"A test. He called it a test" Mori said quietly, the memory of that day flashing into his mind.

It was a hot day, during the summer. He, Mitsukini, Amaya and Chicka were all sitting around in silence, waiting for the adults to dismiss them. Their grandfather had been getting more and more animated, and more and more drunk, when he finally exclaimed,

"A test! That's what we need, a test to find out how watered down the Haninozuka blood is in these Morinozukas." He gestured and Mori and Amaya, disgust and mischief, flashing in his eyes.

"What do you mean by a test father?" Mori's mother asked cautiously, pushing a strand of blond hair behind her ear.

"Well it's simple, have Mitsukini-kun test his martial arts skills against these half bred Haninozukas" He smirked.

Mori's father stood up suddenly, his fists clenched and his dark eyes flashing. He loomed over the eldest Haninozuka considerably.

"Darling, sit down. It's no different to what Yorihisa-kun and I did earlier" Mori's mother reasoned, although her eyes watched her father suspiciously. Mori's father jaw tightened but he slowly sat back down.

"Mori" His father said pointedly. Mori nodded and stood.

"I hope you don't mean for Misukini to fight _him._ Why, the boy is twice his size." Their grandfather exclaimed. "No, it would be a much fairer fight if _she_ was his opponent."

Amaya looked up in surprise. "Me?"

"Father that wouldn't be right, Mitsukini has nearly two years experience on-" Yorihisa stated before being interrupted.

"And she has two inches on him. I'm sure it'll even out."

"But Amaya-chan doesn't even specialise in hand on hand combat. She studies Kendo." Mori's mother objected.

"Well then this will show just how lacking her education is!" His grandfather snapped.

Amaya stood. "Alright then. If you insist, grandfather." Her voice was tight. She turned to face Misukini and sunk into a fighting stance. "Shall we?"

Mitsukuni, who had been silent until now, stood as well. He didn't look happy with what was happening but he had to stand by his grandfather.

The two cousins faced each other for another moment and then they lunged.

They both moved quickly and, although it was obvious that Misukini was the more skilled fighter, Amaya had little trouble dodging his attacks. Unable to land a hit she seemed resolved to swipe at him, half heartedly. It appeared choosing to study Kendo from a young age had made her very unaccustomed to fighting without a swords in her hand.

Suddenly Misukini fainted a strike and Amaya left herself wide open. Knocking her to the ground, Misukini proceeded to try and pin her. That's when Mori knew something was wrong. He and Amaya often practiced on each other. Mori knew from hands on experience that Amaya could get worm herself out of any hold. But now, Amaya was letting herself be pinned.

Rapidly, so fast that he could barely see the movement, Amaya's hand lashed out, striking Honey's shoulder. Honey looked surprised but quickly resumed to contain her.

Why did you hit his shoulder? Why not go for the head?, Mori wondered. His question was soon answered however, when Misukini's movements began to slow. He started to swerve, before slumping to the ground unconscious. Amaya stood brushing herself off, nonchalantly.

"What...How did you?" Their grandfather looked confused at his now slumbering grandson.

Amaya pulled something small and pointed out of her pocket. "Knock out darts, very efficient way to win a fight."

"How dare you?! How dare you use something like that in a fight like this?" Their grandfather stood, enraged.

"A fight like this? You mean one you orchestrated in some warped attempt to embarrass me? One that you had planned for me to lose? You must really be as stupid and senile as you act if you think I am going to play fair in an unfair fight." Amaya threw the now used up tranquiliser dart at her grandfather's feet. Mori remembered watching her walk off, leaving her grandfather behind her, shocked and indignant.

"So Amaya-san cheated in your fight and was sent away." Haruhi said bringing Mori back to the present.

"Not exactly." Mori clarified. "But just after we started high school our grandfather died. In his will he stated that Amaya was too reckless to be allowed to stay at home. He stated, that if Amaya did not spend at least two years away from home in order to teach her 'respect' the Haninozuka Company would declare dissolution."

"I guess grandfather wanted to hurt Amaya-san one last time." Honey said bitterly.


	3. First Kiss

Chika Haninozuka wiped the sweat from his brow. That particular karate training session had been a hard one. He adjusted his glasses when he heard a slight creek come from the entrance. He turned to see that the door was open, swinging on its hinges. Strange, he didn't recall anyone leaving it open.

He walked over to the door and closed it. As he did he noticed a flicker of a shadow and turned, arm blocking the wooden fighting staff that had come bearing down on him. He regarded his attacker coolly, her brown eyes, the same as his own, looked at him amused.

"I wasn't aware you had returned." He said casually.

"Didn't want to spoil the surprise" Amaya replied retracting the staff and swinging again. Chika flipped back out of the way and landed in a crouch. Amaya smirked.

"You've gotten faster." She noted amused.

"You've gotten predictable."

She laughed and ran at him, moving with her stick as though it was an extension of herself, she landed blow after blow on Chika's arms. He winced slightly but his block was effective in keeping himself relatively unhurt. Chika fired a kick at her legs, taking them out from under her. Amaya's stick flew out and she pushed it off the ground, spinning in the air and landing on her feet.

"Going to have to do better than that, little cousin." Amaya teased.

"That stick does give you an unfair advantage" Chika noted, not really complaining. Amaya cocked her head and looked at the stick before tossing it to the side.

"I'd hate for you to say I cheated."

The two flew at each other again. Chika tried to knock her off her feet again but she landed on her hands and kicked him in the chest. He fell to the ground before tumbling back to his feet. Slightly disorientated he sunk back into a fighting stance. Amaya grinned wildly. They engaged each other again, fists, feet, elbows flying. Chika finally managed to pin Amaya's arms behind her back, but her head shot back into his and she shoved him into the wall. He grunted and Amaya broke free, her hand shot out and grasped her stick which lay nearby and she brought it to his throat. The two surveyed each other for a moment before Chika spoke,

"You cheated."

Amaya face broke into a full blown smile. She dropped the stick and pulled her favourite cousin into her arms. Chika hugged her back with uncharacteristic warmth.

"I missed you Chika-kun" She mumbled into his brown hair.

"Didn't even notice you were gone, Amaya-chan" Chika teased.

"A joke? You sure you're my cousin?" Amaya teased, mockingly pretending to search his eyes.

"No one said I was joking." Chika replied roughly but he smiled despite himself.

"Two jokes! And a smile! I think I'm going to faint." Amaya exclaimed.

"Oh shut up"

"So are you back with your family? Now that your two years are over, I mean." Chika asked sometime later. They were sitting on the high wall behind the gym, their legs dangling over the side.

"No not yet. I'm in my apartment on the other side of town. My parents own it so at least they know I'm not homeless."

"I'm surprised Mori is okay with that."

"There's a good chance he isn't. I haven't spoken to him about it. Actually I haven't really spoken to him at all. He didn't exactly know I was coming back."

"Have you seen him yet?" Chika tried to find some hint of how Amaya was feeling, but it was futile. No one could ever tell what Amaya was thinking. It was of the things Grandfather hated about her. And admired, Chika supposed, not that he'd ever admitted that.

"Yeah I saw him at school yesterday." She turned to her cousin. "Did you know about the little club our older brothers have joined?"

Chika nodded "The Ouran High School Host Club. That Suoh guy started it up. Did you see that they have a cross dresser? Speaking of which..." Chika looked pointedly at Amaya.

"What?"

"Aren't you wearing a guys uniform?"

Amaya held up her hands "Hey, I tried wearing that yellow bombshell. It clashed with my hair. Contrary to popular belief I am not a little ray of sunshine. And therefore should not dress as such."

"Popular belief? I don't think anyone has ever called your violent nature 'sunny'"

"Regardless, I'm not wearing it anymore. Besides unlike the brunette boy-girl I still look unmistakably female." Amaya argued. Chika had to give her that. Although she was wearing a boys uniform she seemed to have altered it to make it more feminine. The blazer for example was smaller and held to her curves. Her shirt was open at the top and the tie was loose. Frankly it was pushing on being too revealing for school.

"I suppose it is unlikely you're gender is going to be mistaken. Especially with that cleavage."

"Are you calling me a slut?" Amaya asked laughing.

"I said no such thing. That half open shirt however... Well that's telling a completely different story."

"Chika you insult my honour. And for that you must die." She pushed him playfully, threatening to knock him off the wall.

"Like you could kill me"

"Nearly did in there."

"You cheated!"

"I don't recall sticks being against the rules"

"You can't use weapons in hand on hand combat"

"Of course you can. I just did. Try to keep up Chika."

This went on for quite a while.

Kyoya looked at the two cousins with interest. Amaya seemed very carefree as she laughed at her overly exasperated family member.

So you don't hate _all_ the Haninozukas then, do you Amaya? He thought.

He watched on as Chika jumped down from the ten foot wall with ease, Amaya following him, dropping as lightly as a cat. The two embraced, before departing, Amaya ruffling Chika's hair as she left.

"Hello Amaya-san." Kyoya said coming out from his concealed vantage point.

Amaya turned, completely relaxed. That didn't surprise Kyoya. It took a lot to surprise anyone related to Honey or Mori.

"Ah hello Ootari. Figured out who I am, I see." She looked amused. She had reason to be he supposed.

"Yes, you'll have to forgive me for not noticing earlier. It has been a while."

"I'd guess that I didn't leave much of an impression last time we met but..." Amaya trailed off suggestively.

"I assure you, the impression you left was... Lasting." Kyoya ended with a smile.

"I hope so. A boy shouldn't forget his first kiss."

Kyoya remembered the first time he visited the Morinozuka household. He had been 9 and his father had brought him in the hope that he may befriend the younger Morinozukas. Even then Kyoya had a commendable talent for making friends with important people.

He had been waiting for his father to come out of his meeting when he first spotted the young boy being harassed by another three. He saw the victim speaking to his mother, one of the maids, not 10 minutes before. His tormenters were the sons of some mildly notable underlings of the Haninozuka's. Kyoya watched as they shoved at the boy, no doubt goading him into a fight that he had no hope of winning. Kyoya detested bullies, his father sometimes played at one, but he knew that it would be better not to make enemies of these ones. Certainly not for the benefit of a son of a maid.

Kyoya turned away. After all he didn't want someone to come out and accuse him of being a coward. He was about to start walking from the scene when he heard what could only be described as a war cry.

Amaya fell on the scum like a she devil. She was holding a fighting staff and quickly proceeded to beat the three boys around the head with it.

"I. Don't. Like. Bullies!" She screamed, each word matched with a blow.

The boys fell to the ground, shielding their heads.

"Ow get away!" One snarled.

"Yeah we were only messing with him." Another squealed.

"Messing with him? If you're going to mess with someone, at least give them a fighting chance" Amaya stopped hitting them, she walked over to the scared victim and gave him a hand up.

"Go find your mother okay, chan?" She said kindly. The boy looked at her and then the three other boys, who had now gotten to their feet. They seemed to have realised that their attacker was a girl that was younger than them. Suddenly they didn't look nearly as afraid.

"I'll be fine." Amaya reassured him with a smile.

"You sure about that little girl." One of the boys said, grinning very confidently for someone that had just been repeatedly hit over the head.

"Yeah it is three against one." Another one said staring at her as menacingly as a prepubescent boy could. Which is to say, not very.

"Not quite." A voice came from behind them. The group looked to see a boy with black hair and glasses standing there.

"Who the hell are you?" One boy snarled.

"Me? I'm Kyoya Ootari. But I'm not important, what's important is who _she_ is." Kyoya pointed at Amaya. She felt her face go hot from the new way the boys were surveying her.

"Wait a second... Doesn't she look like..."

"Mitsukuni Haninozuka?" Kyoya suggested, smirking.

"How do you my cousin? You don't seem like the type he'd hang out with." Amaya asked tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Your cousin." The boys looked at each other in fear. "So that means your-"

"Amaya Morinozuka. Your father's boss's niece. In other words, I think you should go."

The boys didn't need any other further invitation and they ran for it. Kyoya watched them go with an amused look on his face. He turned to Amaya, expecting thanks.

He didn't get it. He_ did_ get a stick to the face though.

Amaya swung out and struck the Ootari boy. He staggered and he looked at her bewildered, his glasses askew.

"Why-" Kyoya began but the look on Amaya's face cut him off.

"I hate bullies. But I hate manipulative cowards more." She held the stick up like she was going to hit him again, but thought better of it.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Kyoya said backing away slightly his hands raised in defence.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? I saw you. I know you saw those boys harassing him" She pointed to maid's son that was still behind her "And walked away. Why? Did you think he wasn't worth the effort? Because he's not rich, or, or comes from an important family!"

"I, I was shocked, didn't know what to do. But when I saw you go to help I knew I'd have to do something so I came to help-"

"Wrong" She interrupted with a growl. "You saw me, the daughter of the man your father is currently dealing with and thought 'this could be a good business opportunity, I'll go rescue her!' Sorry to disappoint you Ootari, but I'm not impressed."

"Are you always this ungrateful!" Kyoya snapped at her.

"Only to people who don't deserve gratitude" She snapped back.

"Fine!" He conceded "Maybe I helped you because I thought you were special. Now I know that was stupid! No one with your personality is ever going to important!" He shouted the ending at her.

Amaya looked taken aback. Good, Kyoya thought, She should.

She tilted her head to the side and looked thoughtful. "Not important. That's an interesting idea. I want to be important. I want to be remembered." She started to walk towards Kyoya slowly, the wooden staff still in her hand.

"Yeah well, you won't be" But he didn't sound so sure now. He started to step back again, but she kept coming.

"I'm going to make sure you remember me Ootari." She growled.

"How?" Kyoya scoffed. He found that highly unlikely.

"By doing this." She leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips. Kyoya froze from the shock. After a few moments Amaya pulled back and smirked at him.

"There. I've stolen your first kiss. Not going to forget me now are you?"


	4. Sending a Message

_**Hey so this the fourth chapter of Close to Home. This is my first fanfic so please review! This chapter doesn't lead directly from the end of the last chapter. Enjoy!**_

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Kiyoko Yamamoto left the host club with a small smile playing on her lips. She had just spent the last hour chatting with Honey and Mori, well she says chatting what she really means is watching Honey eat cake while Mori sat there in silence. Still there was something pleasurable in being in the cousins' company.

She pulled out her phone as she walked through the now empty corridors of the academy. She had a message from her driver telling her that he was outside waiting. She began to text back to tell him she would be out in a minute when she heard footsteps coming from behind her.

Strange, she thought, None of the other guest came out this way.

She turned to search for her follower but saw nothing. There were dark corners in these hallways and the shadows suddenly seemed far more menacing.

"Is someone there?" She called out, feeling silly. No reply came so she decided to move on. But as she commenced walking again she began to hear footsteps that seemed to stalk her own. She spun around quickly, her imagination whirling with sinister things that creep in the darkness. In most cases these things would be nothing but figurative.

However, as the figure clad in black proved, this was not one of those times.

Kiyoko yelled as the body shoved her against the wall, their hand grabbing her throat roughly. His, because the shape was clearly male, other hand rose up and struck her sharply against her face.

"Shut up!" A harsh voice ordered from behind a balaclava. Kiyoko whimpered but fell silent. The man threw her to the ground and bent down over her, close enough for her to feel his breath against her skin. Close enough to see the hate and violence in his black eyes. She turned away from the intense gaze.

"Look at me, Look at me!" He shouted at her. He moved his hand as though he was going to hit her again. Kiyoko flinched and glanced up at his face. He moved in even closer and her heart began to beat rapidly.

"I want you to pass on a little message to tamaki Suoh for me. Get rid of the club or I get rid of the guests."

Amaya's brow furrowed as she remembered her conversation with Kyoya a week ago. What had started as a trip down memory lane spiralled into what could only be described as a guilt trip.

"A boy shouldn't forget his first kiss." She remembered saying with a smile.

"No, especially when it is taken from him at stick point."

Amaya laughed, "I'd have thought you'd have gotten over that by now Ootari-senpai."

"Oh I have Amaya-san. I'm afraid I came to speak to you about something other than our own personal history."

"Oh?" Amaya raised an eyebrow "So this is relating to business and not pleasure. I'd be lying if I said I was surprised. What concerns you, Ootari?" She folded her arms across her chest and tilted her chin forward slightly. She looked a little defensive now.

"Nothing of any major distress. It's just I am worried about Mori-Senpai. He seems to be a little...distant since your arrival." Kyoya spoke calmly as though he was simply addressing a client.

Amaya barked out a laugh. "Because normally he is an open book. I think what you mean to say is that Takashi has been ignoring Mitskuni."

Kyoya regarded her with mild surprise. She was difficult to fool. No doubt she would one day be a talented business woman, he must remember to keep contact with her.

"That would be one way of describing it, I suppose." His voice did not give away his increasing admiration for the younger Morinozuka.

"So Honey sent you to come tell me off. But I'm afraid I don't really know what I can do to help. Takashi's issue is his own not mine." Amaya began to examine the tips of her hair as though this conversation did not concern her in the least.

"Honey-senpai was actually hoping you would speak to Mori. He seems to think that you have been avoiding your brother. Naturally this would cause your sibling some unease."

Amaya gave Kyoya a hard look. "I have not been avoiding my brother. I've been avoiding the damn brat that he clings to."

Inwardly Kyoya shrank away from the intensity of her glare. Externally however he didn't waver as he coolly said, "So Honey is the issue. That simplifies things."

"How's that?" Amaya asked her eyes squinted in suspicion.

"Come by the host club tomorrow and you'll see." Kyoya walked away triumphantly but not before hearing her voice.

"No. Takashi can find me. I've done enough for this family. I'll be damned if I have to start running after them." Amaya stalked off angrily.

A week later and she still hadn't gone to the music room to see her brother. And he hadn't come to see her either. Chances were he wasn't going to.

The end of class brought her back from her thoughts. She was in the same class as the twins and the cross dresser but neither had spoken to her. She figured they didn't know what to say to the unknown shame of the Morinozuka family.

Now that Takashi has Honey he doesn't really need me, she thought sadly as she packed her bag, I guess I'm just surplus.

She threw her bag over her shoulder and headed to her locker. She could feel the twins watching her walk in the opposite direction to the Host Club with disappointment. The last few days they seemed to be waiting with diminishing eagerness to see if she would join them. Now they just looked out of habit.

She got to her locker and noticed that the conversation seemed more grim than usual. She picked up snippets of sentences as she exchanged her books.

"Last night..."

"Attack..."

"After the club.."

"She's pretty bad..."

Amaya stiffened slightly. Something serious had obviously taken place last night. She moved to ask one of the girls from her fitness class what had happened when the conversation suddenly died. Amaya turned to look over her shoulder where she saw Kyoya Ootari standing looking very grave. His arms were folded against his chest and his glasses gave off a kind of gleam.

"Would you be so kind as to come with me, Amaya-san?" His voice was cold, the tension in the room palpable. Opting out of a sarcastic reply, Amaya nodded.

They strode through the hallways in silence. As they walked Amaya could hear whispers similar to those in the locker room.

"I can't believe..."

"Security should have..."

"Check the CCTV..."

"Hey Ootari," Amaya asked cautiously "What exactly happened last night?"

Kyoya didn't speak for a moment as he opened the doors to the Host Club. Amaya noticed that there was only one guest present. She was surrounded by the other hosts and appeared to be crying.

"The host club has been challenged to war" Kyoya explained, ferocity coming off him in waves.

Amaya walked up to the girl who she now recognised as Kiyoko, a sweet albeit not the brightest girl from her year. She had been on the verge of being overly friendly when Amaya first arrived and, although she was perhaps a little to peppy for Amaya on a daily level, she had to admit she had taken a liking to her. Now here she was, sitting down on a chair, shaken to her very core. Amaya noted the angry red mark on her left cheekbone, most likely from someone striking her across the face. Amaya crouched down in front of her in the hopes it made her seem less intimidating.

"What happened Kiyoko-chan?" She whispered brushing a strand of the girl's black hair behind her ear.

"I, I was leaving the club and, and I thought I heard something, and then he, he came out of the shadows and, and...Oh Amaya-chan I was so scared...I thought he was going to kill..." The girl began hyperventilating, her hand clutching her throat where Amaya could see slight bruising. Years of martial arts training told her that Kiyoko's attacker had started with a frontal assault, grabbing his victim by the neck and then subduing her with what appeared to be punch, not a slap, to the face. Her natural aptitude for understanding people however told her that her attacker was smart, quick and efficient, using minimal amount of energy in restraining his prey.

I am going to take a lot of pleasure in breaking this guy's face, Amaya thought to herself as she stroked Kiyoko's hair to calm her.

"What did the assailant want?" She directed the question at her own brother, as out of all the people here, her, Takashi and Honey knew the most about assaults.

The answer however did not come from either of her relatives. It came from the Host Club's king.

"To send a message. Specifically to me." tamaki said, his voice uncharacteristically sombre.

"Alright, what was the message?" Amaya asked, despite being able to guess.

"Basically disband the host club.." Hikaru started,

"Or I start messing with your guests" Kaoru finished.

Amaya nodded slightly and stood up. "So what are you going to do?"

"Well we're going to try and find him." Haruhi said simply.

"And make him very sorry for hurting Kiyoko-chan." Honey added.

Amaya stiffened slightly at the sound of her cousins voice but forced herself to relax. "So what do you need from me?" She pointed this question at Kyoya.

"Like I said the host club had been challenged to war. And for that we need soldiers."

"And as a master of Kendo and a Morinozuka, you count" Takashi said. Amaya glanced at her brother briefly and then at the still crying Kiyoko. It appeared her involvement with the club was not going to be as limited as she would have liked.

"Okay then. Where do I enlist?"


	5. Schemers

Amaya sat down around on one of the two opposite facing couches. Kyoya noted the confident aura she was emitting. Her arm was casually propped up on the arm rest, her fingers lightly playing with the tips of her hair.

Oh yes, She was definitely planning something.

Mori seemed to think so as well as he sat down beside his sister and turned to her. "What are you scheming?" He asked in that strangely calm almost monotone tone he often spoke in.

Amaya felt a slight jolt when she heard her brother speak to her. It was the first thing besides her name that he said to her. She wasn't slightly surprised that it was an accusation. After all Takashi only seemed to ever accuse her.

Granted most of time he was right but...

Amaya smirked now though, pushing away her uneasy family life.

"I was just wondering how you intended to use me in this...issue." Amaya spat out the last word. As good as she was at keeping her emotions in check, things like this, where people hurt others to send a 'message' she found it hard to keep herself calm.

"Well we were thinking that you could help guard our guests. Walk them to their cars after club hours, make sure no one follows them, things like that." Haruhi said sitting down across from Amaya.

"Hmm, I take it Takashi and" She paused before saying awkwardly "Honey would be the other guards."

"That would be the idea yes." Tamaki said his light demeanour absent due to recent events.

Amaya nodded a little. Kyoya looked at her and smiled.

"It seems as though you have another idea, Amaya-san." He said putting away his black notebook.

"I have the same one on your mind Ootari." Amaya said simply. Kyoya pushed his glasses up his nose, not faltering by yet another one of Amaya's insights into his mind.

"It does seem like the most efficient way of getting to the bottom of this, doesn't it?" He replied, enjoying the other members of the host clubs growing annoyance.

"It is the most efficient way. I fear the others may struggle to come to that view point, however." Amaya sighed.

"What are you two talking about?" The twins asked visibly irritated.

Amaya gave Kyoya a little nod and he cleared his troat.

"Amaya isn't going to become a guard."

"I'm going to become a victim."

"What? What do you mean?" Haruhi asked, concerned.

"It's simple. Instead of shepherding around a bunch of guests in the hope someone catches the creep before he attacks anyone, I'm going to become someone worth attacking." Amaya sat up a little straighter.

"No." Mori said suddenly.

The group went quite and looked at the tallest member.

"Amaya can't put herself in harm's way like that. I won't let her." Mori said his eyes flashing uncharacteristically aggressive.

There was a moment of silence before it was broken by Amaya's humourless laugh.

"Won't let me? Really? That's adorable naivety you have there, Takashi. It's almost as though your protective older brother privileges weren't revoked say, oh I don't know, two years ago?" Amaya's voice was light but her eyes stared at Mori with something not far from disgust. Honey seemed to shrink away from his two cousins.

Mori stared at her in shock before getting up and storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Why are you so mean to him?" Honey asked angrily.

Amaya looked at him through narrow eyes. "I'd hardly call that mean but I suppose I should take your word for it. Huninozukas are the experts when it comes to Morinozuka's suffering after all."

Honey went silent after that. So did the rest of the club. Amaya looked at them all for a moment before getting up.

"Fine." She said resigned, walking out after her brother.

"Takashi" She called once she closed the door to the music room behind her. "I know you can hear me, you'd never stray that far from Haninozuka"

Mori skulked into view. "Why don't you ever call him Mitskuni? You did when we were younger."

"Things were different when we were little. I didn't see how they treated us then. How _he_ treats _you_."

"Mitskuni doesn't-" Mori began but Amaya cut him off with her hand.

"Don't. I didn't come out to argue about him again" She ran her hand through her hair and sighed.

"I'm doing this Host Club thing Takashi. And I prefer if you didn't sulk in the corner while I did."

Mori was astonished at the way Amaya was speaking to him. She never used to talk to him like this. He took a good look at his sister and couldn't help feeling as though he had missed out on something. She was a lot different to the 14 year old he had said goodbye to. Physically she was taller, more muscular, her blonde hair cut short to her shoulders. But there was something else. Something in her eyes that made her seem... strong. And not in the way she once believed she was strong when she was 14.

But there was also a coldness to her that hadn't been there before. She used to be so caring. Now it seemed she had learned how to be cruel.

Could I have stopped that? Mori wondered.

Maybe, maybe not.

"Alright." He responded. She would do it anyway, so where was the point in fighting her?

The two sibling regarded each other in an awkward quiet. Amaya sighed before turning away.

"Look I know those idiots probably want us to hug it out or something, but we have bigger issues to deal with than our little tiff. There are girls getting attacked and no offence but I'm making them my priority. So why don't we just go back in there and plot various ways of taking down your guests little creep." Amaya moved to the door and began to twist the door handle.

"I'm sorry." Mori said quietly.

Amaya paused for a brief moment before answering in a small voice.

"I know."

Kyoya glanced up as the door opened. Amaya walked in followed by a slightly glum looking Mori. Even though Amaya appeared to have a carefree smile on her face he could still see the tension between the two in the distance they kept from each other.

"There. The sibling bonding is complete. Can we please get back to scheming now?" Amaya said cocking her hip and folding her arms.

Kyoya smiled and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I suppose we can."

"So shadow king, What's the plan?" The twins asked, sinking into the couch beside Haruhi.

"It's simple enough. Amaya-san will become our guest. She will sit with us, go to our events and generally appear to be your average teenage girl. Then should our adversary attack she would be able to, shall we say, overcome him."

"Basically we make him come to us. And then I break his face." Amaya added smiling.

"Of course we will have to show some favouritism to Amaya-san in order to make her a more appealing target but that shouldn't be too difficult." Kyoya said looking at Amaya with a smile. She winked at him, knowing the others didn't see. He chuckled.

"This is all well and good." Tamaki said, his theatrics returning to him now. "But how do we know that she can play her part?" He turned to Amaya and pointed at her dramatically. "How can we tell if you can be a convincing Lady?!"

Amaya looked taken a back. She shrunk away from Tamaki's accusation, her arm holding her other one self-consciously.

Looking at the ground she said in a small voice, "I, I didn't, think of that..." Her voice trailed off.

"Maybe, maybe I'm not good enough, Maybe I can't..." Her voice was shaking now as she held back tears.

Tamaki's face crumbled. He ran to Amaya and scooped her into his arms, hugging her closely to him.

"I'm sorry Amaya-chan! Of course you are good enough! I shouldn't have doubted...Huh?" Tamaki looked down at Amaya who was now laughing.

"Seriously can believe you thought that was real." She sniggered.

"You were... pretending?" Tamaki asked confused.

"Obviously. I'm surprised you fell for that Senpai." Haruhi said.

Tamaki gasped and ran to a corner.

"Oh sorry Senpai, I didn't mean to upset you." Amaya called to him.

Tamaki stood. "Apology accepted Princess." He said walking back to them.

Amaya looked at Kyoya, hiding her laughter. Tamaki was too easy to fool.

"So Amaya is going to become our own little wolf in sheep's clothing." Kaoru said a grin slowly spreading on his face. His brother turned to him, his own face mirroring his twin's.

"Effectively." Kyoya answered.

"If that's everything taken care of I'm going home." Amaya walked to the exit, before turning back and giving them all a flirtatious smile. "I'll see you boys tomorrow."


	6. Amaya's Log

**Hey this chapter is a little longer than the last few. It's mostly setting the scene for future chapter but I tried to keep it as interesting as possible. I'm new at this so please Review and tell me what you think.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy Chapter 6!**

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_Amaya's Log: Day One_

_I have infiltrated the strange alien group known as the host club. The females seem to be somewhat territorial of my arrival. However I soon hope to join them and receive the status of guest. My true purpose for being here remains unknown to them. My ally, Hitomi, has provided my way into this strange new world, although she too remains unaware of my goal._

_Amaya's Log: Day Two_

_I am tired. As a new guest I am yet to show preference for a particular host. Today I was 'entertained' by the leader, Tamaki, who shall be here after referred to as 'The King'. As planned I was shown subtle but no doubt noticed favoritism with The King taking me into his arms and dipping me .I believe I swooned to an appropriate extent. _

_My Biological connection to Takashi, here on known as the Giant, and Mitskuni, here on known as the Teddy, is yet to be discovered. Ootori, to be referred to as Shadow Eyes, is currently working on how best to use this information to our advantage. _

_Tomorrow I face the Twins._

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_Amaya's Log: Day Three_

_Last evening I made an interesting observation. As an undercover guest I am privileged to viewing the interaction of these 'Hosts' after club hours. These are my findings._

_The King, has dramatic tendencies. It appears that the opinion of the optionally gendered one, Haruhi a.k.a The He-She, seems to have an impact on his behaviour. Upon being insulted by the He-She the King promptly commenced sucking the colour out of his surroundings. _

_(Note to Self: Find out how the hell that works.)_

_Today during club hours I was seen to by the Twins._

_It appears that the red headed ones, who shall be referred to from here on as the Devil Twins, or D.T for short, have hypnotised the females in the area with something known as 'Twincest'. I am yet to understand it's appeal. The elder, Hikaru pulled me in between the two Devils and began to whisper into my ear. I commenced blushing furiously, acting which, The He-She later remarked, deserved an award. The younger, Kaoru, attempted to take me into his arms causing me to become thrown around like a rag doll. I believe that this may have caused my unpopularity among some of their more devoted fans. _

_Whilst jerking me around the younger D.T 'fell' from the sofa, causing the elder to rush to his aid. This was followed by much Moe. _

_Tomorrow is the turn of the He-She. I look forward to finding out how she became involved in this Club._

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_._

"Hey Amaya..." She heard a voice call. She paused waiting for its twin to follow.

"Whatcha doing?" Sure enough there it was. She felt breath tickle both her ears as the twins bent down to read her note book. Snapping it shut she smiled and replied,

"Nothing. Just homework." She turned to look at the twins. She frowned at them,

"Why are you wearing those hats?"

The twins smiled at her impishly. "We want to play a game."

"Anyone else getting saw flashbacks? No? No one? Just me?" Amaya asked looking around the room. The other guests were long gone by now, and the rest of the host club were slouching around, eating cake, doing homework or in the case of Kyoya typing away on a laptop.

"Don't be silly Amaya" One twin said hopping over the couch and sitting down beside her. He slung his arm over her shoulder and his brother did the same on her other side.

"We'll only torture you if you get it wrong." They grinned widely at her.

Amaya sighed, "Fine what's the game?"

"It's called the which one is Hikaru game..."

"You have to guess whose Hikaru..."

"...And whose Kaoru"

"And why do I have to do this?"

"Because we heard you tell Kyoya you understand people..." The one on her left began.

"So we want to know can you tell which one of us is which" The one on the right finished.

Amaya looked at them both with a raised eyebrow. She pointed at the one on her right and then the one on her left. "Kaoru, Hikaru."

The twins looked at each other before laughing "Nope! Guess you're not as good with people as you thought." They began to stand up when Amaya spoke.

"You guys realise you have different voices, right? So there really is no point in pretending I'm wrong, I know I got it right."

The two looked at each other. "You figured it out...from our voices?"

"Well you guys can't be completely identical can you?"

The twins looked at each other and nodded.

"Turn around." They ordered.

"Why? What are you going to do to me?"

"Just turn around" One of them said annoyed.

"Whatever you say. Hikaru." She smirked as she turned her back to them. She saw Kyoya watching them from across the room.

"Having fun?" He asked.

"Oh like you wouldn't believe."

"Don't worry they do this to everyone. Although you are only the second person to figure out a way of telling them apart." He replied smoothly.

"Oh? Who's the other one? Their mother?" Amaya asked. She could hear what sounded like the twins moving behind her.

"No. That was me." Haruhi said looking up from her homework. Amaya blinked in surprise.

"Really? Want to tell me how?" Amaya grinned.

"No! That's cheating" Hikaru interrupted from behind Amaya.

"Hikaru shush! No talking!" Kaoru chastised him.

After another moment or so Amaya felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned back around to see the twins sitting on the sofa across from her.

"Alright so now what do I do?"

The twins just looked at her in silence. Amaya's brow furrowed before realisation hit her.

"Oh I get it. You two aren't going to speak so I can't tell who's who by your voices'."

The twins grinned at her.

"So does this mean if I never answer, you two won't speak again? Because that is _seriously_ tempting."

The twins glared at her. Amaya chortled in response.

"Fine, fine. I'll play."

Amaya eye's narrowed in concentration. She laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them. She searched their faces for some indication of which twin was which. After all there had to be _some_ difference...

She couldn't find one. The twins looked triumphant.

Amaya groaned, exasperated. "I don't know! I can't see any difference, I don't know what Haruhi can see but to me..." She stopped abruptly. She leaned in closer to them suddenly excited.

"That's it, isn't it?" She whispered, mostly speaking to herself.

Suddenly the twins did not look as confident.

Biting her lip in a vain attempt to hide her delight at figuring out the puzzle, Amaya slowly said one word.

"Haruhi."

The twins raised their eyebrows in surprise but quickly put their faces into an emotionless mask.

Quickly, but not quick enough.

Amaya's smile was ecstatic as she pointed to the one on her left and said "Hikaru."

The twins giggled. "Nope you got it wrong!" They laughed in unison so Amaya couldn't tell by their voices.

"Oh really? I'm not so sure, let's ask Haruhi shall we? Haruhi-" Amaya called. Rapidly the twins lunged and covered her mouth.

"Shush!" Kaoru said, confirming Amaya's guess as correct.

"Don't call her over!" Hikaru added.

Amaya smirked and licked the hand blocking her mouth.

"Eww!" Hikaru exclaimed retracting his hand.

"Don't worry boys, I won't tell her _who_ reacted _how_ at the sound of her name." Amaya winked at them and stood up.

"Now if you excuse me, I have an audience with Shadow eyes." She walked over to Kyoya.

"Shadow eyes?" Kaoru asked, looking at Kyoya.

"I don't know." Hikaru said looking at his damp hand.

"Well I'll tell you this, brother, that girl sure figured you out." Kaoru said.

"Me? It was clearly you!" Hikaru said wiping his hand on Kaoru's jacket.

"Eww! Hikaru!" Kaoru complained.

.

.

Amaya ignored the quite background noise of the twins squabbling. She sat down beside Kyoya and smiled.

"Tell me Ootari why don't you entertain guests?"

"I do on occasion." Kyoya responded without looking up from his laptop. "Although mostly I run the behind the scene dynamics of the club."

"Interesting. So in that case we should leave you to last."

Kyoya paused. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"You should be the last host I meet with. Not many girls will remember the first time I was at the host club but they will certainly realise the attention I'm getting from the other Hosts. So when the second in command appears to be giving me the eye..."

"It will not go unnoticed. In fact it could even be blown completely out of proportion."

"Exactly. Do you think you can survive another two days without me by your side?" Amaya grinned at him.

"I'll find a way through somehow."

She laughed.

"Hey guy's I have a question. What happens when people realise Amaya-chan is Mori's sister?" Haruhi said.

"I've already thought of that. The way I see it, it can only be advantageous." Kyoya said smirking darkly.

"The personal connection adds to my appeal." Amaya agreed.

"You sure about that?" Haruhi asked.

"Huh?"

"Well think about it. Everybody in the school knows how protective Mori is over Honey-senpai, and he's an eighteen year old martial arts prodigy. How protective do you think he'd be over his sixteen year old _little_ sister?"

"I object to the word little. I'm taller than two of you." Amaya interjected.

"My point _is_, don't you think people would be afraid about how Mori would react if you were hurt."

"She has a point" Tamakai agreed.

"Yeah Mori-senpai can be a pretty scary guy." The twins added.

Amaya considered it for a second before turning to Mori. "Takashi if I got hurt how would you feel?"

Mori didn't hesitate in answering. "Depends."

"On?"

"How you got hurt."

"Well say if what happened to Kiyoko-san happened to me. How would you react?"

"Violently."

Amaya smiled a little before continuing, "And if you didn't know who hurt me. If I was still in danger and there was nothing you could do, how would that make you feel?"

Mori was silent for a moment. "Frustrated. Angry. Helpless."

"And if someone, anonymously, told you that I'd never be hurt again if you quit the host club, even, perhaps, helped destroy it, what would you do?"

There was an eerie stillness to the room as everyone waited for Mori's answer.

Truth be told his response didn't really surprise anyone.

"I'd protect my family."

Amaya turned to Haruhi.

"That right there, is why I am so deliciously appealing to these creeps. I have sentimental value." Amaya's smile was humourless. Haruhi nodded.

"Alright."

"I'm afraid we have another problem. I just realised it when the twins described Mori-senpai as scary." Tamakai said stroking his chin. He walked up to Amaya and stopped in front of her, studying her face.

"Oh now what?" Amaya exclaimed frustrated.

"That" Tamakai said pointing at Amaya's face.

"What you saying about my face blondie?" Amaya said putting her hands on her hips.

"Not your face. Your attitude. _You _are scary. No one's going to attack a girl that looks like she's ready to go three rounds with a bear."

"I thought I had already proven my acting skills."

"You most certainly have." Kyoya spoke from behind her. "But Tamakai is right about one thing. Very few people in the school are unaware of the fighting abilities of the Morinozukas. Once your family is revealed the people, or person, behind this assault will no doubt avoid you out of sheer fear."

"Well then maybe we should make up a story to tell everybody. Make it sound like Amaya-san can't hurt anybody." Honey said eating cake from his table. Kyoya had noticed that over the last three days the two cousins seemed to have come to an uneasy, unspoken, agreement. They didn't speak to each other but they didn't avoid each other like the plague anymore.

"We could try that. After all barely anybody here knows that I even exist. They certainly don't know my past. Plus I haven't entered any contests since I was ten. I mean I won but..."

"We could say you left to go to boarding school because you wanted to stop your training." Kyoya suggested.

"And I've returned to continue my education here because my big strong brother and cousin can keep me safe." Amaya chewed the inside of her cheek pondering her new alias.

"I think I could pull that off."

"Then it's decided. Tomorrow, we introduce Amaya Morinozuka."


	7. Little White Lies

_**A/N Sorry it's taken a while for me to update I haven't had access to the laptop where I type this up for the last few days...And I have school...Which I don't study for...**_

_**My excuse's are dying so without further ado here is chapter 7. I intended to have more in this but as I was writing it I realised that it would probably be too much for one so I should have chapter 8 up pretty soon too. Anyway, please review and, more importantly, enjoy!**_

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Seamlessly. That is the word that Kyoya would use to describe the way Amaya introduced her new role. With an innocent smile and casually dropped 'big brother' she had the entirety of their guests aware of her relationship to Mori and Honey. What's more she made it seems as though she never hid the fact, rather that nobody had realised.

Kyoya remembered the exchange with a smirk. Amaya had been sitting with Haruhi when she called over to Mori...

.

"Hey Takashi, I'm going to stay back in the library after the club for a little while to study, is that alright?" The guests' ears picked up at the strange question Amaya asked the most stoic of the hosts.

Thankfully, Mori was quick to understand where Amaya was going with this.

"Okay. I'll tell Mom and Dad you'll be a little late. Do you want me to arrange a limo to pick you up at a different time?" Mori's voice was low as per usual, but clear and many eye's went round as people began to fit together the two siblings.

"Yeah that would be great, thanks Takashi! Best big brother ever." She laughed lightly before looking back to Haruhi as though nothing had happened.

.

"Sorry Haru-kun, did I interrupt you?" Amaya asked politely. She felt a small amount of pride at the ease in which she had slipped in her status as Mori's sister. Not to mention the fact that she would be alone in the library later should anyone want to 'make an example' of her.

Haruhi smiled. "No it's okay Amaya. I think it's sweet the way you and Mori-senpai plan-" Haruhi trailed off looking at the other two girls she was entertaining. They were staring at Amaya with open mouths.

"Are you ladies okay?" Haruhi asked but she was, for what Amaya imagined was the first time in a long time, ignored.

"You're...Mori-senpai's..." the guest on Amaya's left began but seemed unable to finish.

"little sister?" the one on the right said instead. She seemed more impatient than the other one.

Amaya faked surprise at their question. "Yes. Did you not know that?"

The two shook their head slowly. Clearly they were recovering from shock.

Amaya giggled and exclaimed, "But my family name is Morinozuka! Did nobody realise...?" Amaya paused examining the two girl's face before laughing lightly again.

"Really? How strange, I thought everyone knew. You knew didn't you Haruhi?"

"Yeah I did. But then again, Mori-senpai _did_ tell us. He said it after the first day you came here, does no one remember that? I mean you guys don't look too much alike, so I can see why nobody made the connection."

"Oh is that what Tamakai-Senpai meant when he was talking about family that time? We all thought he meant the host club..."

Suddenly one of the guests squealed.

"Wait a second you look _so_ much like Honey-Senpai! He's your cousin right?" The guest said excitedly, obviously pleased with herself for making at least one connection.

Amaya's jaw twitched for a fraction of second before she smiled self consciously. "Yeah he is. I get that a lot actually, I take after my Mom and Takashi looks more like our Dad. So I guess I do look like Mitskuni, a little."

"So are you like them? I mean can you do martial arts like them?" The other guest chipped in, the host club slowly becoming more and more forgotten.

"No, I...I can't. I used to when I was little but the truth is I'm just not cut out for it. My coordination and balance are terrible. That's why I wear trousers instead of a dress. I kept tripping on the skirt." Amaya blushed and looked down ashamedly and her new found friends rushed to her defence.

"Oh don't worry Amaya!"

"Lots of girls have bad coordination."

"And besides you have Honey-Senpai and Mori-Senpai to look after you. You don't need to be good at martial arts!"

Both girls proceeded to throw their arms around Amaya and she smiled awkwardly.

"Thanks, that's really nice of you to say."

Amaya spent the rest of Club hours joking and chatting with many of the guests who suddenly had a much higher level of interest in the girl now that they knew about her family connections.

.

.

Amaya left with the rest of the girls to go study in the library. After all she had to keep her story straight. An hour or so later she waltzed into music room three.

"So you going to give me the Oscar now or later?" She asked with a grin.

"You were great my darling princess!" Tamakai announced picking her up and twirling her.

"When did I become a princess and how can this be stopped?" Amaya asked desperately when Tamakai finished twirling her. She struggled slightly with getting free as it seemed Tamakai thought she was as cuddly as her facade suggested.

"I have to admit I was surprised with the ease in which the guests took your explanation." Kyoya said ignoring her question.

"Yeah you were really believable!" The twins chimed. Mori nodded in agreement and even Honey offered a small smile.

"Thanks." Amaya grinned. She swallowed slightly before turning to Honey. "Looks like we're getting compared again squirt." Her voice was hard but it had a softer edge to it than usual. She sounded slightly amused.

Honey practically staggered at being directly addressed by Amaya with something other than disdain. And her sparingly used nickname was enough to almost knock him out.

"Well you two do you alike." Haruhi stated. And it was true. They had the same blonde hair, the same brown eyes, the same shape to their faces. Of course she looked like Mori too, she was exceedingly tall for a Japanese girl, around five foot seven, and she often wore similar expressions to her brother. Which is to say, not a lot of readable ones.

"I suppose-" But whatever Honey was about to say was cut off when a short, shrill, scream pierced the air.

The Host club regarded each other for a moment before bolting for the door, Amaya following them.

"No, Amaya." Mori said blocking her exit. The twins, Tamakai and Honey all ran out of sight.

"Takashi we don't have time-"

"He's right Amaya. You can't be seen rushing to the girl's defence that would completely destroy your cover." Kyoya stated.

Amaya faltered before nodding grudgingly.

"You should stay too Haruhi. I don't mean to be rude but in a fight you probably would only be a burden." Kyoya added before sprinting in the direction of the scream. "Mori-senpai, we're going to need you!" He called back.

Mori hesitated for a fraction of a second longer before running after him, leaving behind the two girls. There was silence for a moment before Haruhi spoke.

"How is telling someone they're a burden _not_ rude?"

And despite the situation, Amaya smiled.

.

.

The twins, Tamaki and Honey all ran towards the origin of the sound. Despite having the shortest legs Honey was upfront with Tamaki and the twins trailing behind. They started to hear sobbing come from down the corridor. Rounding the corner they saw the silhouette of a girl curled up on the floor.

Tamaki rushed to her and started to try and calm down the poor girl.

"Shhh, shh, you're alright, you're safe. Tell me what happened." The girl looked up and Tamaki's jaw clenched.

"He, he, he attacked me. He had a, a..." She touched her cheek.

"What way did he go, Miss?" Honey asked, emitting a dangerous aura.

The girl pointed shakily and Honey sprinted off that direction.

"Come on Hitomi, let's bring you back to the music room, okay? Can you stand?" Tamaki asked, his voice impossibly gentle. He heard Kyoya and Mori arrive behind him but he didn't take his eyes off the girl. After a moment he heard Mori run in the direction Honey had gone earlier.

The girl tried to get up but her legs were shaking too much and she couldn't hold herself up right. Wordlessly Tamakai scooped her up into his arms and carried her bridal style back to the music room. Kyoya and the twins followed cautiously behind.

"Hey isn't that Amaya's friend? The one she first came to the Host Club with?" Kaoru asked in a whisper.

"Yes, she is." Kyoya replied softly.

"Crap." Kaoru said.

"I'll tell you one thing. Amaya's going to be pissed." Hikaru added.


	8. Crossing Lines

_**Two chapters in two days? I am simply too good to you people. No I just really wanted to write this...**_

_**Anyway here's chapter eight. There's cursing up ahead just to warn you, but then T rating probably gave you a hint about that. Tell me what you think and of course enjoy!**_

.

Amaya was very, very, very pissed.

When Tamakai arrived back he carefully laid down Hitomi on one of the sofas. Amaya, upon realising it was Hitomi, ran to her friend's side.

"What the hell happened?" She demanded, even though she knew. Her finger's brushed Hitomi's cheek. There was a very precise cut from a knife along her right cheekbone. It was still bleeding, the red standing out violently against her pale face.

They were escalating. Oh joy.

"She was attacked. Most likely by the same culprit." Kyoya answered. He had rooted out a first aid kit and began to open it up.

Benefits of having the son of a man that runs various hospitals around.

"Pass me disinfectant, two pain killers and a glass of water." Kyoya ordered. He knelt down beside Amaya and began to survey the cut.

"It's shallow. The blood is already beginning to clot. It won't leave a scar." Amaya said to Hitomi stroking her hair.

One of the twins, she was too worried about her friend to care which, handed her a glass and the pills.

Amaya smiled gently. "Can you sit up Hitomi? I need you to take these."

Hitomi nodded slightly. She sat up but she was swaying in a way that made Amaya nervous. She took her friends hand in her own, her brow furrowed in concern. Her friends palm was slick with sweat.

"Hitomi are you..." But Amaya voice trailed off when she realised that there was far too much moisture on her friend's hand for it to be _just_ sweat. She looked down at her friend's hand and saw it was red with blood. Blood that she had previously had thought was from Hitomi cradling her hand to her cheek. But as she yanked her friend's sleeve up, which she now saw had a tear, she saw the gash across her arm.

"Shit! Call an ambulance!" Amaya screamed pulling off her blazer. She wrapped it around her HItomi's arm, making a tourniquet.

"What's wrong?" Tamkai asked worried as Haruhi dialled the emergency number.

"The bastards slit her wrist. She could bleed out if we don't get her to a hospital fast." Amaya said rapidly. She moved Hitomi's arm above her head to slow the blood flow.

"Amaya?" Hitomi's voice was weak and scared.

"Don't worry Hitomi you're going to be fine." She soothed.

.

.

An hour later Amaya was pacing the hospital halls outside Hitomi's room. Kyoya could see she was on edge, that, despite being told by numerous and highly qualified professionals that Hitomi would be fine, she was terrified for her friend.

He could also see she was about ready to kill someone.

"Amaya. Sit down." Mori told her. He was sitting beside Honey who had fallen asleep in the hospital chair behind her.

Amaya shook her head. "Are you sure you didn't see anyone Takashi? Anything?" She asked him for the umpteenth time.

"No." The reply was curt.

Amaya ran her hand through her hair again. Sighing loudly, she sat down beside her brother. After a moment Mori wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders. Amaya leaned her head on his shoulder, gladly accepting her brother's comfort.

Kyoya's phone buzzed. He took it out and saw that it was his father's number.

"If you'll excuse me." He said before standing up and walking outside to take the call. He had been raised to follow hospital rules after all.

"Hello father" He said, answering the phone.

"Kyoya. I heard about tonight's unfortunate incident."

"Yes. We have it handled."

"Have the girl's parents arrived yet?"

"Yes they came about ten minutes ago. I have subdued them. They do not know about the connection between their daughter and our...club."

"That's good. We'd hate for your extracurricular activities to damage our reputation."

"Yes father."

"What are you doing to repair the situation?"

"We have already put someone in place in order to catch the assailant."

"Interesting. And is he capable?"

Kyoya smirked. "Yes she most certainly is."

There was a slight pause on the other line before his father spoke again.

"Alright. But to ensure greater security I want you to take a squad from our police force. Have them, discreetly, of course, watch over your...guests."

"Thank you father."

"Oh and Kyoya?"

"Yes father?"

"Don't let them beat you." And with that Kyoya's father hung up.

Kyoya looked at the phone with a humourless smile. "I have no intention of that."

.

.

"Miss Morinozuka?" A nurse holding a clipboard called out into the hall.

"Yes?" Amaya said, looking up anxiously.

"She's asking for you." The nurse said with gentle eyes. Amaya bolted up and walked quickly into the room.

"Hitomi!" She gasped running up to her friend. Hitomi was sitting up, clearly shaken but her eyes were bright. Her parents were beside her, looking a little traumatized themselves.

"We'll be outside okay sweetie?" Her mother said squeezing her daughter's hand.

"Okay."

Amaya gave Hitomi's parents a polite smile before turning back to her friend.

"Do you remember anything?" She asked cautiously.

Hitomi swallowed. She closed her eyes in concentration. "I... I was walking out to the car. I think I heard footsteps because I stopped. I remember looking around and then..." Her voice wavered but she continued determinedly.

"Then he attacked me. He knocked me against the wall and shoved the knife in my face. But not before I screamed. I guess that's, that's how you all heard me."

"Did he say anything to you?" Amaya asked leaning forward intently.

Hitomi pinched the bridge of her nose. "I think he, he did. Em... He got mad at me for screaming so he gave me, " Her hand touched her cheek. "That. He told me to shut up. He said something about... Uh it doesn't even make sense!"

"It's alright. Just tell me."

"He said that the message didn't sink in. So he was going to make it."

"Is that all?" Amaya pushed.

Hitomi nodded. "Then we heard shouting and people running. I guess he panicked because he tried to run. I grabbed his hand and that's how I got this." She lifted her now bandaged wrist.

"Why did you grab him?" Amaya asked incredulously.

Hitomi had a small smile. "I didn't want him to get away."

Amaya laughed disbelievingly. "That was stupid."

"Yeah I guess it was."

"But brave." Amaya added with grin. Hitomi smiled back self consciously.

.

.

Ten minutes later Amaya left Hitomi's room.

"Well?" Tamakai asked.

"It's our guy alright. Apparently he told Hitomi that we hadn't gotten the message so he was going to make sure it 'sank in'."

"What did we do to make someone hate us this much?" Haruhi asked.

"Nothing. Except steal the affection of a large portion of the female population of Ouran." Kyoya answered.

"Jealously." Hikaru stated.

"As good a motive as any" Kaoru added.

Amaya pursed her lips. That motive seemed too frivolous for the amount of rage in these crimes. And the amount of fore thought. She caught her brother's eye and knew he was thinking the same thing.

It doesn't matter, we can find out the reason after we catch him, Amaya thought to herself.

"My father has kindly given us the support of some of the Ootori private police force to aid in the protection of the guests." Kyoya said.

"That's good. The more help we get the better." Honey stated in his typical look-on-the-bright side manner.

"I'm with you there squirt." Amaya muttered.

.

.

The next day the host club was open for business. Although Hitomi's assault hung over them like a dark cloud the Hosts and Amaya had been instructed, by the shadow king himself, to act normally.

Amaya sat beside Kyoya on one of the sofas. They were alone and but still in ear shot of the other guests. No one knew about the sinister reason behind Hitoni's absence and most people presumed she was merely ill.

Kyoya wasn't entirely sure why Amaya had come up to him today before club hours and requested that she could spend this club session with him instead of their planned meeting tomorrow. He had a feeling that perhaps she wasn't feeling up to being entertained by her cousin and her brother today.

What he was sceptical of was the close proximity in which she was sitting beside him. Amaya twirled her hair around her fingers as they spoke, giggled light heartedly and generally seemed like a feather brained teenage girl. Except for her eyes, which were cold and calculating, warning him to play along.

She's planning something, Kyoya thought, as he smiled at her warmly, occasionally touching Amaya's arm. If she wanted it to seem like they were flirting then she was getting just that.

Five minutes before club hours ended Amaya leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"Walk me out."

Kyoya cocked his head slightly to the side in surprise before standing with her. He motioned towards the door and she smiled, walking towards it alongside him. As she pushed open the door she grabbed his hand and pulled him out into the corridor with her.

Instantly her smile dropped. She looked into Kyoya's eyes and spoke precisely.

"I need you to play along. I need you to trust me."

Kyoya's eyebrows knitted together and he pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

A smirk tugged once again at the corner of her mouth. "You will. I'm sorry by the way. I don't mean to keep doing this to you. I know it's not very nice, but I'm afraid it's necessary."

"What are you-?" Kyoya began but he was cut off by Amaya's lips.

He almost pulled away from the kiss but he remembered her instruction to play along so instead he looped his arms around her waist. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she tilted her head back as Kyoya deepened the kiss.

He almost didn't hear the doors to music room three open as club hours ended and dozens of guests walked out into the hall.


	9. Threats

Wow teenage girls can gasp loudly, Amaya thought to herself.

She jumped away from Kyoya and squealed. Focusing on blushing she succeeded in making her face bright red. Amaya looked at the other girls for a moment with wide eyes. They seemed to be having varied reactions; shock, jealousy, pure glee at the drama of it all and of course murderous rage.

Some of these people take this club a little _too_ seriously, she noted inwardly.

Externally she spluttered "I, I..." She looked at Kyoya shamefully before turning away and sprinting down the hall. "I'm sorry!"

.

Thank you Amaya for leaving me to clean this up, Kyoya thought at her retreating back darkly. He looked at the guests and smiled nonchalantly.

"Club hours have ended for the day. We hope to see you all tomorrow." He pushed through the crowd of stunned guests and walked into the music room. He grabbed the two doors.

"Good bye and have a pleasant evening." He closed the entrance in their faces.

Kyoya let out a sigh and turned to see the host club looking at him, just as surprised. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and sat down at the table where his laptop was sitting. He turned it on and began typing.

The rest of the group looked at each other in confusion. The twins and Tamakai were gesturing at each other madly.

Talk to him! The twins ordered silently.

Tamakai pointed to his chest, Me? Why?

You're the king, the twins motioned a crown above their heads.

Fine! Tamakai silently agreed.

"Uhm Kyoya? What were you doing with Amaya-chan?" Tamakai asked slowly.

"I think it's very obvious what we were doing. If you don't understand I can get you a book." Kyoya answered.

Rapidly Mori slammed down the lid of Kyoya's laptop. His fingers barely escaped being broken.

"My sister is not a toy." Mori said protectively.

Kyoya straightened. He stuck his chin out. "Can you remove your hand please?"

"What were you doing with her?"

"Please take your hand away."

The hostility between the two boys was palpable. The twins hid behind a couch. Tamakai went to join them but not before grabbing Haruhi around the waist and bringing her with him.

"Hey-! Mmmm!" Haruhi murmured into Tamakai's hand that covered her mouth.

"Shh. Not safe to speak." He warned.

The two were still staring each other down.

Mori's face twisted into a snarl. "I'm warning you Ootori-"

"Takashi. Stop" Honey ordered. Mori's grimace dropped and he turned to Honey who was holding Usa-chan to his chest.

Mori exhaled loudly before removing his hand from the laptop. He glared at Kyoya distrustfully before stepping back and folding his arms across his chest. Kyoya was surprised by the level of emotion Mori was showing. It was very uncharacteristic.

"Phew. That was close." The twins said before getting up from behind the couch and walking over to Kyoya.

"Yeah, you said it." Tamakai agreed.

"Em, senpai?" Haruhi said.

"Yes?"

"Can you let me go now?"

Tamakai blushed slightly. "Of course darling. Daddy was just making sure his daughter was safe from those ruffians." He laughed nervously and leaped up away from her.

"Ruffians?" Haruhi asked with a raised eyebrow, but she didn't get an answer as Mori, in what can only be some kind of record, spoke.

"Talk." He siad to Kyoya.

Kyoya smirked. "I'm not nearly as sinister as you all seem to believe. Amaya was the initiator of the kiss. She told me to play along and so I did. I hardly did anything unthinkable."

"Why would Amaya want to kiss you?" Hikaru asked bluntly.

Kyoya glared at him.

"No offence" Hikaru muttered.

"I'm not sure. I imagine, however, that it was part of some scheme she is cooking up. She seems a little on edge since last night."

"Yeah strange that. Who'd have thought that your friend getting attacked would upset you." Amaya put in. She was at the door where she had just come in.

"Sorry about abandoning you to the wolves Ootori. Have to keep up appearances after all." She flopped down on the couch.

"It's alright. Although I will have to get my revenge." He said the last part quietly, but loud enough for her to hear.

"What was that?"

"Absolutely nothing Amaya-san."

"Hmm, I'm so sure." She glanced over at them. "Why does everyone look like I shot Usa-chan?"

"Well you did just kiss Kyoya-senpai." Haruhi answered.

"Well who was I suppose to kiss? No offence Haruhi but you're not really my type. You know with that whole being a female thing you got going on."

"Why did you have to kiss anyone?" The twins asked annoyed.

"Status, my darling demon spawn, status."

"Ah." Kyoya said with realisation. "Very clever. I suppose I am the obvious choice. What with your family ties to Mori and Honey, Haruhi's gender and the twin's closeness. It was either myself or Tamakai."

"I'm sure you can understand why I chose you." Amaya said with a smile.

"Yes, well, I am far more logical in these matters."

"Can you two stop talking in code?!" Kaoru exclaimed.

"Like you can talk" Haruhi scoffed.

The twins looked at Haruhi innocently, "We have no idea what you mean Haru-chan."

"What am I not logical enough about? Why did you kiss mommy?!" Tamakai cried, interrupting the twins.

Amaya looked confused. "When did I kiss his mother?"

"You didn't, he means me." Kyoya replied with a sigh.

"Ah, okay." Amaya said slowly, before grinning.

"Now what are you smirking about?!" Mori asked frustrated.

"Just thinking that if Ootori is a woman I might have to rethink my sexuality." She said devilishly.

"Anyway back to kiss." She continued, "I realised last night that it could take way too long for the assailants to make a move on me. Being family to the host club makes me tempting but only if they find out about it. Frankly being someone's sister isn't the juiciest gossip in the world. So I thought I'd up the hype. Make myself an even more prominent figure in the minds of the guests."

"So you kissed Kyo-chan." Honey said.

"Which means now you're not just Mori-senpai's sister. You're Kyoya-senpai's girl." The twins said in unison.

"Which makes me a pretty interesting conversation piece doesn't it? I imagine it won't be long before a certain someone makes a move."Amaya smirked evilly. Haruhi almost felt sorry for the guys who were going to attack her. They're going to play right into her hands.

There was a moment of silence.

"Mori-senpai?" Tamakai said.

"Hmm?"

"Your sister is an evil mastermind."

"I know."

Amaya just laughed wildly at that.

.

.

The day after the kiss, Kyoya walked through the library. He scanned the shelves for the book he needed. Finding it he returned to the desk he had left his bag and laptop. He began to search his bag for his notebook when he spotted a note sitting on top of it.

How strange, he thought, opening it.

It's most likely from a disgruntled guest asking about yesterday, he thought.

It wasn't.

_Ootori,_

_We know about your girl. We can get to her whenever we want. We can do whatever we want to her. She won't be as lucky as the last two. If you want her pretty face to stay pretty do what we say and close the damn club or next time we'll take our time with the knife._

_Give our regards to Hitomi. _

Kyoya swallowed a little before carefully putting the letter in his bag. He would send it to one of his family's labs to be tested later. More importantly it seems the culprits had finally taken notice of Amaya.

She was going to be absolutely ecstatic.

.

.

"Yes!" Amaya punched the air. "About time too!"

"You know this has to be the happiest a girl has ever reacted to the news someone has threatened her with a knife." Haruhi noted, reading the copy of the note Kyoya had received that day. The original was already on its way to some Ootori crime lab, being tested for finger print, DNA, the works.

"Well can you blame me? I had to spend this whole week watching girls gawk stupidly. My respect for my gender has gone _way_ down."

"So how long do you think these guys will wait to see if Kyoya came through?" The twins asked.

"The first attack was last Thursday, so that was eight days ago. The second was on Wednesday and that was two days ago so by that logic...Tuesday?" Haruhi suggested.

"I don't think they'll wait that long. I think they want Kyo-chan to make up his mind faster." Honey disagreed.

"Wednesday." Mori said, contradicting Honey.

"What was that Mori-senpai?" Tamaki asked.

"They'll attack on Wednesday. That gives Kyoya-kun enough time to shut down the club without arousing suspicion. And Amaya was in the library alone last Wednesday."

"Taka-kun's right. These guys think about their attacks enough to get the girls when they're alone. They'll try to do the same with me." Amaya sighed. "I just wish they would show up already. I have a burning desire to break someone's face that just won't go away."

"Sometimes I think you enjoy your part in this a little too much, Amaya-san." Kyoya said.

"What can I say, I'm a passionate girl." Amaya smiled flirtatiously.

Haruhi looked at her watch. "Well I better be going, I have to get dinner ready before my dad gets home." She picked up her bag. The twins looped their arms with hers.

"We'll walk you out!" They chimed, giving Tamaki an impish smirk.

"Unhand my daughter you fiends!" He shouted running at them but the twins and Haruhi were already gone.

"We should go too, right Taka-chan?"

"Yeah."

"See you later! Try not to get attacked without us Amaya!" Honey called out as the two cousins left.

"Wouldn't dream of it squirt." She muttered before throwing her own bag over her shoulder. She saw Tamaki smile knowingly and she looked at him with suspicion.

What's he thinking about?, Amaya wondered, It couldn't be...No I doubt he remembers that well enough to recognise me. At least I don't think he does...

"See you Ootori. Your Highness." She curtsied and headed for the door.

As she closed it she heard Tamaki say something to Kyoya.

"You know I don't think it's the fight Amaya-chan is looking forward to. I think it's the girls who are getting hurt she's worried about."

"What makes you say that?"

"Nothing, I just think Amaya looks out for other people more than others realise." She heard Tamaki chuckle to himself.

Damn it! Amaya thought. The bastard remembers!

.

.

Tamaki walked out of the music room with a smile on his face. A smile that was quickly removed when a hand shot out from around a corner and pulled him into a classroom.

"Ahh!" Tamaki yelped as he fell to the floor. He rubbed the back of his head, wincing.

"Ow" He complained.

"Ah, stop whining." A familiar voice said not unkindly. "You didn't fall over _that_ hard."

Tamaki looked up to see Amaya looking down on him, a slight smirk on her face.

"Amaya? What are you doing?" she didn't reply, instead she walked over to one of the desks and sat down on it.

"I'm an idiot. I mean it didn't even dawn on me that you would remember. I thought that if _Ootori _could forget about me than you _definitely_ could. I thought you'd at least not be able to recognise me." She wasn't looking at him, but out the window instead.

When she did turn to him with her ever present smile, her eyes, he noted, seemed sad.

"I guess I owe you an apology. I greatly underestimated your mental abilities."

"Don't worry about it, everyone does." Tamakai said happily before realising what he just said. "Which isn't really a good thing..."

Amaya snorted however she became abruptly serious. "Tamaki-senpai? Have you told anyone about the first time we met?"

Tamaki shook his head. "No, you made me promise not to mention it. Although I think I should. It would help show Honey-"

"Stop. You promised me, Tamaki. You said you would never tell anyone about what we talked about before I left. Don't break that promise." Her voice was a warning, her eyes turned from sad to cold.

Tamaki sighed. "Alright."

Amaya's happy demeanor returned. She got up off the table and made for the exit.

"Thank you Tamaki. I'll see you on Monday." She winked at him and left.


	10. Not Just a Pretty Face

_**A/N: Okay so sorry about the delayed update, this chapter turned out a little longer than planned. I just want to say thank you to all the people giving me review they really help as a motivator for me to write. Later in this story I'm going to need a name for a male character. It has to be Japanese and ordinary enough, preferably something that means kind or gentle, something along those lines. Please if you have any suggestions message me them and if I use your suggestion I'll give you honorable mention ****. Last thing before I shut up and let you read the damn chapter is that if anyone has any questions, that won't ruin the plot, feel free to ask and I will answer them as best as I can.**_

_**Okay, I'll be quiet now, enjoy chapter 10!**_

* * *

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Haruhi panicked searching her bag. Desperate, she tipped the contents on to her kitchen table hoping that her biology book and notes would miraculously appear. That she was just imagining leaving them at the host club on Friday.

"Damn it!" Haruhi cursed. She pinched the bridge of nose trying not to think about the fact that she had a massive test on DNA tomorrow.

"C'mon Haurhi, solutions! Think!" She closed her eyes tight. School would be closed and even if she could get in Kyoya always locked the music room after club hours. There was no way she was going to be able to get it before Monday. Besides even if she could she didn't have time. She still had to clean up the apartment and get dinner ready before her dad came back and do the rest of her homework...If only she could get someone to bring her her book.

"I got it" She said, snapping her fingers, she pulled out her cell and searched her contacts stopping at Hikaru.

"I'll ask the twins if I can borrow their book." She pressed call and brought the phone to her ear.

Hikaru woke up to the sound of his phone. Beside him Kaoru yawned.

"Hikaru, answer your phone..." He complained. Kaoru sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes.

Hikaru leaned over and picked up his phone.

"Wait a second that's Haruhi's ringtone." He realised.

"Huh? Why is she calling you?"

"I don't know."

"Well answer it."

Hikaru pressed accept call.

"Hey Haruhi. What's up? Why are you calling so early?"

"Em Hikaru? It's 12 o'clock."

Hikaru looked at the clock. "Huh goes we slept in." Kaoru rested his chin on Hikaru's shoulder so he could hear Haruhi.

"Anyway I was wondering if you or Kaoru could lend me your biology book. I left mine in the music room by accident."

"Why do you need a biology book, we don't have homework for that." Kaoru asked.

"Is that Kaoru? We have a test, remember?"

"Oh yeah we forgot you actually study for those."

"Of course I study for tests!"

"Why, it's not like it's part of the exams. It's just an in-class test on DNA. What's the big deal?" Hikaru asked.

"Never mind. I'll see you tomorrow." Haruhi hung up.

"What's her problem?" Hikaru asked looking at the phone.

"Maybe Haruhi's worried about the test because she's a scholarship student. If she fails her classes doesn't she get kicked out of Ouran?" Kaoru said concerned.

Hikaru contemplated that for a moment before dialling in a number on his phone.

"What are you doing?" Kaoru asked stretching out on the bed.

But Hikaru didn't answer as at that moment the call was picked up.

"Hey Mori-senpai? It's Hikaru, I need your sister's number."

.

.

Amaya's leg were beginning to burn. She had been on the treadmill for a while now, she started flat out sprinting ten minutes ago. She ignored the stitch that was forming in her side and instead focussed on the heavy metal music she had blaring in the back ground. Say what you want about it, the genre was good for working out to.

She heard her phone go off from across the room. She slowed down to a walk and stepped off the treadmill. She picked up the phone but not before noting that she didn't recognise the number.

"Morinozuka." She said in greeting.

"Hey Amaya, it's Hikaru, do you have your biology book home with you."

Amaya walked over to her 'dart' board. It was riddled with throwing knives from her practising earlier.

"Yeah why?" She yanked the daggers out. "Do you need to borrow it or something?"

"Kind of, Haruhi forgot hers. And she's worrying about our test tomorrow."

Amaya put down all the blades except one which she aimed at the board.

"I'm not surprised, she's a scholarship student isn't she?"

"Yeah. So can we come get the book and give it to her."

Amaya threw the knife. It landed a little more to the left then she was aiming for.

"Why don't I just give it to her?" Amaya lined up her next shot.

"That would be easier..."

"Okay so give me her number and address and I'll contact her." This time the blade landed too far to the right.

Hikaru gave Amaya Haruhi's contact details and then hung up.

Amaya dialled Haruhi's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Haruhi? It's Amaya, the twins called me, said you needed a bio book?" Amaya's fingers lightly caressed the dagger she was holding.

"Yeah I do. Can I borrow yours?"

"Sure. I'll bring it up to your house in about an hour."

"Okay thanks Amaya." Amaya heard a click indicating that Haruhi had hung up. Amaya called for a car. As she was leaving to go shower, after all the twins _had_ interrupted her work out and she did not smell pretty, she paused. Her fingers coiled around her favourite knife. It had been a gift from her father for her 16th birthday.

She flicked her wrist and the blade flew through the air. It hit the board with a definite thud.

Amaya smiled to herself. Bulls eye.

.

.

"We're here Miss Morinozuka." The driver said. Amaya glanced out the window. She had known that Haruhi wasn't rich like the rest of the student body at Ouran so her surroundings weren't that surprising.

"Thank you. I'll be back in a moment." She got out of the sleek black car. It was a little out of place here but far better than the private limo and chauffer her family had offered her.

She walked up to Haruhi's apartment and knocked on the door. After a moment it opened to reveal a surprisingly feminine looking Haruhi. She was wearing a white t-shirt and pink shorts and had her hair back but that didn't change the fact that without the boys uniform she was clearly a girl.

"Hey Amaya, thanks for bringing the book."

"No problem Haruhi." Amaya took another look at the girl. She seemed tired, and maybe a little stressed.

"Are you okay Haruhi? You seem a little run down." Amaya handed her the book and Haruhi clung on to it like a life line.

"No I'm fine. Just busy is all. Have to go over everything for the test. I don't really get this chapter if I'm honest." Haruhi laughed. Amaya felt a pang of concern. Haruhi may be acting relaxed but Amaya didn't have to be a genius, behaviour analyser to know that she was stressed.

Amaya smiled "I can help you if you'd like. Biology is my best subject."

Yeah, Haruhi thought, I noticed, you've never gotten less than 100%.

"No that's okay, I mean I have a lot of things to do so I don't really have time to sit down and go through it all. I'm sure I'll understand it though." Haruhi smiled unconvincingly.

Amaya tilted her head to the side. "What kind of things?"

"Oh you know, homework, cleaning, cooking, the usual..." Haruhi trailed off realising that chances were Amaya _didn't _know.

Amaya smickered. "Well in that case I'll stay and clean, you can study and cook."

"What? No I couldn't let you do-" Haruhi began but Amaya had already pulled out her phone to call her driver.

"Hey, I'm going to be staying here for a few hours. I'll call you when I need you to pick me up." Amaya hung up and walked into Haruhi's apartment, but not before taking off her shoes.

"So, what don't you get about DNA transcription?"

.

.

Haruhi didn't know what to make of the situation. She thought that Amaya would fall flat on her face once she tried to start cleaning but she had been at it for an hour and showed no sign of stopping. Every now and then she would look up to ask Haruhi a biology question.

"What is cytosine's complementary base pair?" she asked now whilst scrubbing the kitchen sink. She had already cleaned and cleared all the dishes from it and had decided she might as well go ahead and make it shiny.

"Guanine." Haruhi replied confidently. Amaya had actually been a pretty big help with getting her to understand the chapter as well. Haruhi felt a little guilty for underestimating her.

"Hey Amaya? Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm? Sure what is it?" Amaya said over the noise of the water she running to rinse down the sink.

"When did you learn to clean? When the guys come over they usually don't know much about picking up after themselves."

Amaya laughed. "Yeah well to be honest if I hadn't moved away from home I probably wouldn't either. When I left I went to a boarding school but during the holidays I lived in my own apartment. My parents offered to pay for staff but I guess I was determined to show everyone that I could survive on my own. Suffice it to say that the place got pretty messy the first week." She finished cleaning the sink and turned to face Haruhi.

"Huh so you lived by yourself when you were 14?"

"Yeah that was part of the deal. No family contact."

"I'm surprised your family agreed to that. After all Mori-senpai is really protective, I wouldn't think he'd be okay with his little sister leaving."

Amaya's face took on a faraway look and in that moment looked more vulnerable than Haruhi thought she could. "He didn't." She said in a quiet voice.

After a second Amaya's face broke into a small smile. "I didn't give my family a choice. I heard what grandfather did and I told them I was leaving. End of. My parents weren't too happy but they had no real reason to argue so they let me go. Takashi, however, wasn't so cooperative."

"But enough about me what about your family? I want to know about the people who raised the commoner who got into Ouran." Amaya said teasingly.

"Not really people, more like person. My mom died when I was really young so it's just me and my dad." Haruhi said.

"Oh I'm sorry. How did she die?"

"She got sick. She was great though. Always really positive even when the doctors said that there was nothing else."

"She sounds pretty cool. What did she do?"

"She was a lawyer. That's actually why I'm in Ouran. I want to be one too." Haruhi smiled slightly.

"Well then we better make sure you pass biology." Amaya grinned.

.

.

"Finished!" Haruhi declared, setting down her homework.

"Me too." Amaya said as she threw her cloth in the sink.

"Thanks for all your help. Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Sure, what are you having?"

"Well I picked up some Soba at the supermarket so I was planning on making that."

"Sounds good, I can help you if you want, although to be honest I'm better at deserts then main courses." Amaya admitted.

"You can make something like that if you want."

"Let me check your fridge." Amaya poked her nose around Haruhi's fridge and scooped several ingredients into her arms, she grinned at the other girl triumphantly.

"Who wants éclairs?"

"Éclairs? Aren't they kind of hard to make?"

"No they're actually pretty simple and plus they don't have many ingredients." Amaya started to measure out butter for the choux pastry.

"Alright, dinner's going to awesome!" Haruhi grinned.

The two girls went about making their dishes. While Amaya was stirring in the flour she mixed it to hard and the flour went to Haruhi's face in a puff, turning her face white. In retaliation Haruhi threw a Soba noodle onto Amaya's hair. It wasn't long before the two girls were giggling flicking left over cooking waste at each other.

"Ha-RU-hi!" A sing song voice came from the door. Neither of them had heard it open. Amaya turned and saw a very well dressed woman with long red hair in the entrance.

Opps, I forgot to tell Amaya about my dad, Haruhi thought.

"Haruhi come give daddy a hug!"

Daddy? Amaya questioned, she cocked her head to the side and studied the figure in front of her. Now that she thought about she could see that the woman was clearly actually a man.

So cross dressing is heredity, who'd have thought it?

"Oh Haruhi you have a friend over." Haruhi's dad said noticing the tall blonde in his kitchen with noodles in her hair and flour on her face.

"Yeah dad this is Amaya, she's in my class at school."

"Pleasure to meet you Mr Fujioka. Sorry for intruding, and for my appearance." Amaya bowed smiling self consciously.

"No problem at all. Why aren't you so cute?!" Haruhi's dad squealed.

"Em thanks." Amaya smiled.

"Amaya was helping me study for biology, she cleaned the apartment while I was doing my homework so I invited her to stay for dinner." Haruhi explained.

"You cleaned the apartment? I thought Haruhi said you were from Ouran." Haruhi's dad said confused.

Amaya laughed, "Yeah I'm a bit more self sufficient then most people from Ouran. I hope you don't mind my intruding on your meal like this. I made éclairs if that helps." Amaya looked a little sheepish. Part of Haruhi wondered how much of this was an act to get her dad to like her.

If it was it worked because her dad wrapped his arms around her and screeched.

"You are too cute! It's about time Haruhi made a nice female friend! You go ahead and call me Ranka Amaya-chan, of course you can stay for dinner."

"Thank you Ranka." Amaya giggled at his over the top reactions. It seems like Haruhi takes after her mother.

.

.

"Thanks for all your help Amaya-chan." Haruhi said later that evening as Amaya was leaving.

"No problem. I had a great time, dinner was fantastic."

"So were the éclairs. Where did you learn to bake?"

"I always baked, even when I was little, I used to help our pastry chef make all our deserts. If I didn't want to become a doctor I'd probably become a chief." Amaya smiled.

"You'd have been a good one. I'll see you tomorrow Amaya." Haruhi said.

"See you tomorrow Haruhi." The two girls hugged goodbye and Amaya walked to her car.

"That girl seems nice." Ranka said nonchalantly.

"She is." Haruhi started stacking dishes in the sink. She couldn't help noting that it really was shinier.

"So is she in the host club?"

Haruhi paused. "No, why?"

"It's just that she clearly knows you're a girl and I thought maybe she involved with the club somehow."

"She is involved with us in a way. She's Mori-senpai's sister. She figured out I was a girl herself."

"Huh, alright."

Haruhi chewed her lip. Amaya was more than Mori's sister to the club, she was bait. But she was also their friend, maybe something more to Kyoya, and Haruhi suddenly felt very nervous as she realised that sometime, soon, she was going to be attacked.

And all they could do was wait.


	11. Tables Turned

"UH!" Amaya groaned smacking her head against the cafeteria table.

"What's her problem?" The twins asked sitting down on either side of her.

"She's annoyed she hasn't been attacked yet." Haruhi explained from across the table.

"Aw cheer up Amaya, it's Wednesday after all." Kaoru said happily.

"Yeah didn't Mori-senpai say that today's the day?" Hikaru added.

"And then you can go back to sexually harassing the Shadow King instead of pretending to be hiding a relationship!" The twins said cheering.

Amaya just mumbled something against the table. Her blonde hair was strewn across her face.

"Sorry didn't quite catch that?" Hikaru asked, using a chop stick to lift the golden bangs from her face.

"What did you say?"

But Amaya's eyes were closed.

"Hello, earth to Amaya." He poked her with the end of his chopstick.

"Ah! Gross Hikaru, there's bits of food and saliva on that!" Amaya complained, her eyes snapping open to glare at the older Hitachin. She sat up straight.

"I said I'm sick of it. I'm sick of avoiding Ootori because I'm supposed to be hiding a 'secret love', I'm sick of avoiding Takashi because I have to act like I'm afraid he's going to go all protective older brother on my ass. I'm sick of hanging out in the library alone, waiting for club hours to end because I can't go back there since tonguing the vice president and I need to be seen alone so these guys would freaking attack me already! Seriously what's wrong with me? Is there something distinctly un-victim-ish about me? Huh!" Amaya finished, aggressively looking at her three class mates.

"With that scary look? No, not at all?" Kaoru said sarcastically.

"Oh shut up, stupid doppelgangers."

"Hey what did I do?" HIkaru asked innocently offended.

Amaya picked up her own chop stick and pointed it threateningly at him.

"You poked me with a chop stick." She prodded Hikaru's cheek playfully.

"_Is she flirting with them?!" _A disgusted voice floated towards them.

Immediately the four straightened, all listening intently.

"_What, is one host not enough for her?"_

"_And they're all friends with her brother! I can't believe she would mess around with them!"_ Amaya stiffened slightly. They were definitely talking about her.

"_Poor Kyoya! Do you think he knows that she's such a, a.." _The voice struggled to find the right word.

"_Slut? Probably not."_ The voices died away. The twins and Haruhi looked at Amaya with cautious eyes.

She was smirking a little but her eyes looked cold and angry.

"Now I'm the seductress of the Host Club. I suppose that can only spur on the assailants." She stood up.

"I'm going to head to class. I've suddenly lost my appetite."

.

Kyoya watched Amaya get up and leave the cafeteria. He had felt a pang of something unpleasant when he saw her joking around with the twins. He put it down to annoyance over her flirtatious behaviour towards him. After all many boys wouldn't be nearly as understanding as he was about her winks and smiles. Her game was dangerous and she needed to be taught that it wasn't a wise one to play.

Now how shall I give her that lesson, Kyoya asked himself, the gleam off his glasses hiding his eyes.

.

.

Amaya closed the book she was using to help with her homework. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. She hadn't been sleeping well, but that was nothing new, she hardly ever slept well.

She stretched as she stood up, feeling her back and neck muscles clunk and crack. She needed to do more yoga when she got home.

Speaking of which, she thought looking at her watch, Club hours were over and she was yet to be assaulted. Looks like Takashi was wrong on this one.

Amaya pulled her bag on to her shoulder and left the library, but not before noting a shadow lurking behind one of the many bookshelves.

On second thoughts, good call big brother.

.

Daichi stalked the tall blonde girl from the safety of the dark. He knew she hadn't seen him yet. She would soon, and she'd wish she never had.

He pulled out his phone and texted his partner who was coming from the other direction. They only had one person attack the girls before now but with the added risk of Kyoya Ootori knowing his girl was in danger and with the her being a Morinozuka they wanted to be safe.

He figured that with the five guys coming in for this there was very little chance on anything going wrong.

He touched the knife in his jacket lovingly. He had watched the girl in the library, he knew that she was pretty, that was good, he liked it better when they were pretty. It was easier to see the effects of your work.

.

Amaya hummed to herself as she walked towards the exit.

As she rounded a corner a figure suddenly appeared in front of her, completely clothed in black, wearing a mask.

She abruptly dropped her happy tune. She backed up and turned to run away only to see the guy from the library coming up behind her.

Two assailants, and there was me thinking this would be fun. Amaya thought smugly, although on the outside she looked petrified.

"Wha-what do you want?" She stuttered, her voice shaking. Another two masked men showed up behind the library guy. She looked over at the one blocking her exit and saw he too had someone backing him up.

Five? Now we're talking, she thought excitedly.

"Your little boyfriend didn't do what we wanted. So now we're going to offer him some encouragement." One of them said menacingly.

Library boy slowly pulled a knife out of his jacket pocket.

Amaya screamed and sprinted, trying to push past the two attackers blocking her exit. They caught her around the waist and knocked her to the ground. One of them kicked her in the stomach. She cried out, even though she had already prepared herself for the hit. She felt her arms being yanked violently behind her back and suddenly she was being forced to sit upright.

The one with the knife started walking sinisterly towards her.

"Try anything like that again and I'll really give you something to scream about" He whispered in her ear sliding the blade gently across her collarbone.

"Please don't do this, please.." She pleaded in a quiet voice.

The boy smiled wickedly in response, bring the knife up to her face.

"No, no, no, NO! Please stop, stop, stop!"

"Shut up!" One of the other men snarled striking her violently across the face. He grabbed her hair and pulled it up causing Amaya to squeal in pain.

"Shut up Bitch or we'll make it so you can't talk."

"You mean cut out my tongue?" Amaya said horrified.

"Yeah something like that." He barked. He shoved her away from him. Her hair hung in complete disarray, covering her face.

"I like being able to talk. So I'm afraid that I'm going to have to draw the line there. But this has been fun and I hope we can do it again sometime." Amaya said in her normal voice, her facade dropped.

"What the hell are you talking about now bit-" But he was cut off as Amaya sprang from the ground. Her foot collided with the chin of the man who threatened to cut out her tongue and he fell to ground unconscious. She trusted her head back, breaking the nose of the guy holding her hands. He released her on impulse and she spun away from him, knocking him out with an elbow to the temple.

"And then there was three." She purred at the ones left standing.

The one with the knife darted towards her but she held up a finger.

"Ah, ah, ah" She wagged it at him. She began to unbutton her blazer. "I've already gotten blood on one of these I don't want this one ruined as well."

"What do you mean? Whose blood?" One of the assailant's asked nervously.

Amaya's eyes flashed. "Hitomi's. Your second victim." She threw the jacket to the floor and the men's eyes widened as they saw the daggers holstered like guns on her hips.

In an instant the blade's were in her hands and Amaya flew at the men with fury. They came at her, one of them slashing at her with his own knife but he didn't come close to the skill Amaya had. Another managed to grip her arms in a hold. Dropping her knives, she kicked herself away from him causing them both to flip in the air. She smacked his head against the floor and he too was out of the fight.

She leaped on top of one of the other masked figures and slammed him off the wall, causing his nose to break, she pulled his head back and slammed it into the wall once more this time knocking him out.

Panting, she dropped him and searched for the final attacker, the one from the library, the one with the knife and the gleam in his eye which told Amaya he took a little too much enjoyment out of this.

She saw him running down the hall.

"Coward!" She hissed, scooping up her throwing daggers. She kissed the blade and let it fly, straight into the calf of the fleeing figure.

"Ah!" He howled slumping to the ground. Amaya walked up to him as he struggled to get the blade out.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll only make the bleeding worse." She said calmly from above him. The man's hand shot out towards his own knife only for it to be impaled with Amaya's.

"You should learn to realise when you've lost." She said. She kicked him on to his front and put her foot on his throat.

"Now if you'll excuse me I have to make a call."

.

.

Mori looked up at the clock nervously. Amaya should have arrived at the host club by now. It was Wednesday, hadn't he anticipated her being attacked today? He shouldn't have let her out of his sight.

Suddenly his phone buzzed. He looked at the number and recognised it as Amaya's.

He answered it and heard Amaya's light voice in his ear.

"You, my dear brother, should consider a career as a psychic."

"Where are you? Are you alright?" Mori questioned. He saw the other hosts turn to him, all, even Tamakai, realising what that voice meant.

"Near the Eastern exit. I'm fine, can't say so much for the other guys."

"I'm coming. Don't move."

"Wouldn't dream of it. I do have my foot on someone right now."

Mori hung up. "East exit. Multiple assailants." He ran to the door, the rest of the club following him.

.

"Took you long enough." Amaya said sitting on the ground. No, not on the ground, Kyoya realised, on a person.

"This guy is the only conscious one. The rest probably have concussions. Did anybody call an ambulance?"

"I did, although I was kind of thinking it was for you and not..." Haruhi paused to count the 'sleeping' men.

"Five, men. Wow remind me never to piss you off Amaya." Hikaru said a note of admiration in his voice.

"Good work, Amaya-san!" Honey said happily.

"Yes well done my darling princess!" Tamkai ran to hug her but Amaya held up a hand.

"Um Tamakai? Best you don't hug me now. What with the criminal under my ass."

"We can take it from here if you'd like Amaya." The twins offered.

"Thanks guys. Hold on and let me get my knives." She yanked the blades out of the man's hand and calf making him scream and pass out from the pain.

The twins jumped on him heavily. "Yay we're criminal sitting!"

Amaya laughed and yawned.

"Are you okay Amaya? Did you get hurt at all?" Kyoya asked, tilting her face into the diminishing light.

"I'm fine. They barely landed a hit on me. One of them may have pulled out some of my hair though."

"Which one?" Mori asked.

"Eh... That one." She pointed at one of the slumbering men. Mori walked over to him, probably just to make sure he didn't wake up unexpectedly. Or ever, whichever works.

"To be honest I just want to go home. Nothing makes you ready for bed like a good fight." She yawned again and stretched her arms into the air.

"I'll walk you home." Kyoya offered.

Amaya chuckled, "Yeah you can protect me from all the big bad men out there." They started to walk to exit, Kyoya opened the door for her.

"Well I can give you support from the sidelines." He said. Amaya laughed.

.

"Mine is the one on the top floor." Amaya said as they stood in the elevator of the apartment building. It was a very high end building and Kyoya was amused by the contrast between Amaya's home and Haruhi's.

"Would you like some tea?" Amaya asked as they walked into a very large room. There was a stairs along the one of the walls but the entire downstairs was just one huge room, with a sitting area with couches, a dining table and a kitchen unit. The back wall was all windows, looking out on to the city.

"Yes, thank you." Kyoya answered. Amaya seemed tired, vulnerable. Perhaps now would be a good time to show her how dangerous her playful signals could be. After all when else would he get such an opportunity?

Amaya put water on the stove to boil. "I'll be back in a moment. I want to get out of these clothes."

She walked up her stairs and into her room. Kyoya followed her silently.

"What are you doing?" Amaya asked, her top shirt buttons undone, when she saw him in her bedroom.

"Proving a point" Kyoya answered. He grabbed her by her waist and pushed her down on the king-sized bed under him. This tactic had after all worked so efficiently on Haruhi, why not on Amaya?

"Do you not realise how easily a man can get the wrong idea? Those kisses you've stolen from me, those mischievous winks, don't you see how someone could misinterpret them?" His breath was mingling with hers.

Amaya looked stunned. Good, Kyoya thought, then the message is sinking in.

Abruptly Amaya's leg coiled around Kyoya's waist and she flipped him over, so now it was her holding him down.

Or not.

"Who said anything about them being misinterpreted?" Amaya laughed at the surprise on Kyoya's face. She leaned in, her lips brushing his ear.

"Did you think I'd go running scared? I'm the wrong girl to play chicken with Ootori." Her breath tickled his ears.

Kyoya turned sharply, swapping their positions.

"I am not so willing to be beaten either." He kissed her mouth passionately. She replied with a hunger that matched his own.

They continued turning, swapping their positions, lips locked, tongues dancing, clothing flying.

Neither willing to be the first to swerve.

* * *

_**A/N The story isn't over yet, review and tell me what you think. And of course thanks for reading, especially to miramisa90212, who has given been giving me great motivation in her reviews. **_


	12. Sweet Revenge

_**A/N Hey everybody! This is the final installment in part one of this story. I will be putting up more in a little while because I'm sort of addicted to writing this but it might not be for a week or so. Anyway review and also as I said at the start of one of my other chapters, I'm looking for a Japanese name for a man that is fairly common. I'll give you honorable mention if I use the name you give me!**_

_**So without further ado enjoy and please review!**_

* * *

Kyoya rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He reached over to his bedside locker to pick up his glasses but his hand found nothing but air. He turned and saw that his cabinet wasn't there. In fact this didn't even look like his room...

The night before came back to him in a blur. As did the fact that he was naked under the sheets. He glanced beside him to look for Amaya but she wasn't anywhere in sight. He spotted his clothes folded on the bed beside him with his glasses on top.

Kyoya pulled on his boxers, trousers and glasses and left the room. He felt surprisingly well rested and far less irritable then he usually did when he woke up.

I wonder why? Kyoya thought to himself.

He could smell food being prepared. He walked out on to the landing and smirked as he spotted her, wearing an oversized t-shirt and lightly moving around her kitchen. Her blonde hair was hanging messily around her head now and her face was bare from makeup but she still looked rather beautiful. And perhaps a little younger.

Amaya turned to the sound of someone coming down the stairs.

"Good morning sunshine." She said smirking, setting out two places on the table.

"Morning Amaya." Kyoya replied politely. Last night had not gone as he had intended it to and, although he didn't regret it, he was wary of what Amaya might expect from him now.

"Here." Amaya said handing him a bowl. They sat down in a slightly uncomfortable silence.

Kyoya sighed inwardly. I'll have to clear the air, define exactly what last night was.

He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Amaya's chortle.

"You don't have to look so nervous Ootori, I'm not expecting a proposal." She smirked again.

Kyoya blinked at yet another one of her insights into his mind. She was proving more and more intuitive.

"Well may I ask what you are expecting?" Kyoya asked neutrally.

Amaya smiled again. "Nothing. Last night was fun. But we are not dating. Nor will we be. So relax and eat your breakfast. We don't have to leave for school for another two hours."

Kyoya complied. As they ate the conversation moved on to much lighter topics. She really was very easy to talk too. Eventually the subject of the host club and last night was brought up.

"Do you think that was all of them?" Kyoya asked referring to her assailants.

"Hard to say. Quite possibly, but after last night they will be much more reluctant to make another move. The idea of one girl taking down five of them isn't going to be a comforting one."

"Yes, I have a feeling the message you sent out was very effective. None the less I will keep a section of my family's police force at Ouran for the time being." Kyoya said, writing in his black note book which he had found by the door, where he placed all of his belongings last night.

Amaya nodded. "It's only a pity none of the other guests know anything about fighting." She paused for a moment, tilting her head to the side as she so often did.

"Speaking of other guests we owe them an explanation don't we? I imagine they have been a little uncomfortable since their walking in our 'kiss'."

"They have seemed a little awkward around myself and Mori. They seem to think that we are about to have a grand fight in the middle of their swooning."

"Well then perhaps we should tell them why I was at the club. It's not like there is any reason for me to keep up the facade."

Kyoya smiled. "Of course. I believe that revealing your role in keeping them protected would also aid in stopping the murder plans Renge has told me the guests have been concocting. "

"Renge?"

"Ah yes you haven't met our French visitor have you? She has been attempting to keep a low profile during the assaults. Now that they may be over I would say you will be meeting her very soon."

"Je meurs d'impatience" Amaya said with a smirk. The grin widened when she cocked her head to the side and said,

"Now I have no issue if you decide not to, but are you going to put your shirt on?"

"This is coming from the girl not currently wearing trousers. Would you mind if I had a shower?" Kyoya said standing up.

"Well I have to get changed into my work out clothes anyway so I'm not going to be using it for a while so go ahead." Amaya said moving towards the stairs.

"The shower is in the second door in the left." She called back to him before entering her bedroom.

.

Kyoya stepped out of the steamy bathroom with a towel slung around his hips and his trousers in his hand. He walked into Amaya's bedroom and began to dress. He reached for his shirt and blazer and noticed that they seemed to be covered with short golden red hairs. He pulled a few off and looked at them confused.

"Amaya?" He called, pulling more of the offending material off his uniform.

"Yes?" Amaya replied, coming into the room wearing a sports bra and shorts. Her hair was tied up and there was a sheen of sweat on her well defined stomach.

Kyoya cleared his throat slightly, caught off guard by her outfit.

"Do you own a cat by any chance?"

"Yes why?" She asked before noticing the fur in Kyoya's hand. "Oh they got in here didn't they? They're not allowed in my room. I take it you left the door open." Amaya began rummaging in her drawers for something.

"They? How many do you own?" Kyoya asked, half wondering if a swarm of felines were about to attack him.

"Just two. Luna and Soleil. That's Soleil's fur you have there. Ah found it." She said pulling out something that looked a little like a brush. She took his clothes from him and began to rub the device over them, removing the hair.

"So you named your cats after the sun and the moon?"

"Yes, uninventive I know. But in my defence I had already named Luna when Soleil showed up and they were so different it only seemed appropriate."

"Different? How so?"

"Well they are both tabby cats. However Luna is a female, with black and grey markings. She is also more intelligent and wilder. She will maul your hand if you attempted to pet her stomach or pick her up. Soleil on the other hand is a ginger male. He's much more easy going, if perhaps a little dim witted. He's a lot larger than the average cat as well. Although that doesn't stop Luna from being the dominant feline around here." As if on cue Kyoya spotted two cats walk past the door.

"There." She handed him back his clothes , now hair free.

"I had better get dressed" Kyoya said taking them from her, feeling somewhat peculiar.

"Of course, I have to have a shower now anyway." They looked at each other for a moment. Amaya felt her heart begin to beat a little faster.

Damn, Ootori looks good wet, she thought to herself, unconsciously biting her lip.

She stepped towards him and kissed him lightly. She turned on her heel and left the room.

.

.

"So does this mean Amaya-chan's not going to be coming around here anymore?" Tamakai asked later, before club hours started.

"I guess." Mori said.

"She will be coming later today to explain the past few days to our guests. After that I doubt she has any plans to return."

"That's too bad." Haruhi said sadly.

"Hm? Something wrong Haru-chan?" Honey asked concerned.

"Oh it's nothing. It's just that I've kind of liked hanging around with her. She came to my apartment last weekend and helped me study. We had a lot of fun in the end." Haruhi's voice drifted off slightly. She laughed self-conciously.

"I guess it was just nice to hang out with a girl and not have her paying to talk to me."

Tamakai gasped. He crept up to Kyoya, attempting to look inconspicuous.

"Mommy! Haruhi's upset! Do something!" He whispered urgently.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Kyoya replied continuing to type at his laptop.

"You have to make Amaya stay! Keep the female influence here so my daughter can become more feminine!"

I thought we had stamped out the fatherly delusions, Kyoya thought to himself.

Still, he had to admit that keeping Amaya around was not a repulsive idea, but how could he justify her staying?

"I'll see what I can do Daddy." He said, the gears of his mind beginning to whir.

.

.

"Please if you would all be so kind as to give me your attention for a moment, there is an announcement we would like to make." Kyoya addressed the guests. Heads swivelled to look at him in confusion.

Amaya took her cue and entered the room. Hushed whispers began to erupt all around.

"If I could please have silence, I believe we have a situation that requires clarification." Kyoya said calmly, stilling the room.

"Amaya, the floor is yours."

.

"...And last night they finally came for me. I stopped five of them. I hope there isn't any more. I apologise for misleading you all, I only ask you can find it in your hearts to forgive me." Amaya looked at the crowd self consciously and imploringly.

"So...You and Kyoya-senpai aren't a couple?" One voice asked.

Amaya smiled and shook her head. "No, like I said that was just part of the act so they would hurt me instead of you."

"OH AMAYA!" They howled rushing towards the girl. Kyoya held up a hand. They stopped a hairs breath from her, quite possibly about to kill her with their gratitude.

"As you can imagine we, the host club, feel terrible about what happened. It has really opened are eyes to the dangers present to people like us. So Amaya-san, has kindly agreed to give self defence lessons to all of you after club hours."

"I've what now?" Amaya hissed at him.

"Also she will be available during club hours if any of you feel you will be needing special protection and wish to make an appointment with her."

"Oh Amaya-chan you are _so_ sweet." Amaya's words of protest were buried under the guests excited squealing.

"Consider this my revenge for leaving me to _them_ after the kiss." Kyoya whispered in her ear.

"This oversteps it a little don't you think?" Amaya growled back, but she didn't get to hear Kyoya's reply as she was pulled into a group hug.

"Definitely" Kyoya whispered to himself with an evil smile.

.

.

That night after club hours, when everyone else was gone, Kyoya felt arms wrap around his waist. He turned to see Amaya glaring up at him.

"You do realise I have to get revenge on you now?" She said leaning against him.

"This could become a never ending cycle." His hand cupped her face.

"Not if you give in." She grinned mischievously. He leaned down and kissed her passionately. She kissed him back for a moment before moving her mouth from his and placing her lips on his neck. Her hands were flat on his chest now, moving under his blazer.

Kyoya breathed heavily, trying to control his desire. Amaya's lips left his neck and moved back to his mouth, softer this time.

After a moment or two she broke off the kiss.

"Good night Ootori." She said smirking.

.

.

The next day Kyoya sat at his usual spot, writing in his notebook.

"You ask him." Hikaru whispered.

"Why should I do it? You do it." Kaoru whispered back.

"What are you two whispering about?" Tamakai asked them standing over them where they were hiding behind the couch.

"Shh!" The twins ordered in unison, pulling him down beside them.

"There on Kyoya's neck"

Tamakai stared for a moment before his eyes widened.

"Is that...?"

The twins shrugged. "We don't know"

"Well ask him."

"You ask him. You're the boss." Hikaru said pushing him out from behind the couch. Tamakai glared back at them. They shooed him away with their hands motioning to Kyoya.

"Em, Kyoya?" Tamakai asked nervously.

"Something wrong Tamakai?"

"Is that a hickey on your neck?"

Kyoya froze and his hand shot up to his neck. His fingers prodded the area and he felt the dull pain of a bruise.

That. Little. Minx.


	13. Family Trouble

_**A/N, So here we go part two! This is going to start back a little angsty/dramatically, but don't worry there is still plenty of violence, romance and giggles to come.**_

_**So anyway please review and enjoy!**_

* * *

"Tell me again how you managed this." Amaya said looking out one of the music room windows at the ground. There, covered in mud and leaves, was a fluffy white rabbit. Usa-chan, to be exact.

"Well we were practising our act and..." Kaoru said slowly.

"We sort of, knocked it?" Hikaru finished wincing.

Amaya closed her eyes and brought her palm to her face. Sighing ,she said

"Where's Haninozuka?"

"Over there, sleeping." Haruhi answered from her place on the couch. She was doing homework and along with the twins, Amaya and Honey, was the only one in the club room.

Amaya abruptly straightened. "Does he still do that whole demon spawn thing when he wakes up?"

"Yeah..." The twins said nervously.

"Great. And Takashi is?"

"He went to go find cake because we ran out unexpectedly today."

Amaya pinched the bridge of her nose and walked into the middle of the room. Her back was to the twins when she spoke again, her voice tight.

"So what you're saying is, Usa-Chan is dirty, Takashi is missing, we have no cake, and Honey is at any moment about to wake up with no one and nothing to stop him from trying to kill us all."

"...Ah! Save us Amaya!" The twins screamed and grabbed her around the waist like small children.

"We're too young and handsome to die!"

"Don't fret demon twins. I've got a plan. But if we are to make it through this I need you to follow my orders."

"Mam, yes Mam!" The twins shouted in unison, saluting her like they were in the army.

"Alright men. I have a mission for you. I need you to retrieve that bunny and bring it up here. At which point you must clean the toy."

"Clean it? Aw can't Haruhi do it?" Hikaru asked whining.

"Are you questioning my authority? Do you want to live?!" Amaya snapped.

"Sorry mam! Won't happen again." Hikaru said, back in character.

"It had better not. Now go. Rescue that rabbit and destroy all those that stand in your way!"

"Right." The twins nodded before running out the door.

Amaya exhaled heavily.

"Do I have to call you mam too?" Haruhi asked. "Because I'd really rather not."

Amaya laughed. "No you're okay. Come on lets go bake a cake. Is there any kitchens around here?"

"Kyoya-senpai had a small kitchen unit built on to the music room. There's not much but you should be able to make something." Haruhi said leading the way to the back of the club room.

"Not even surprised Ootori arranged that. Speaking of which where is Mommy and Daddy?" Amaya asked.

"Oh their entire class had to stay back today to redo an exam. Apparently someone hacked into the school computer and found out the questions before hand. So now they have to do a new test."

"That sucks. But I suppose it got them out of potentially being murdered by Mitsukuni." Amaya said pulling ingredients out of the presses.

Haruhi blinked in surprise at hearing Amaya say Honey's first name. She doubted the other girl had even noticed saying it. But then it has been two weeks since the incident with the assaults and Haruhi had seen the way Honey and Amaya were getting more relaxed around each other.

Haruhi smiled. I hope it lasts, she thought.

"Alright. It looks to me like we have everything we need to make brownies. That's good you don't have to wait for them to cool before you can eat them. That'll save us time."

"Okay let's do it." Haruhi said.

.

.

"Amaya, we're back! Now what do we do!" The twins said panting as they busted through the door.

"Clean the bunny." Amaya said not looking up from the mixture she was stirring.

"...How do we do that?" Kaoru asked confused.

Amaya sighed. "Haruhi would you please help the idiots?"

"Sure. Okay guys this is what you do..."

Amaya continued her baking in silence. As she was putting the cake into the oven she heard squabbling.

"I'll do it." Kaoru offered sounding excited.

"No I want to do it!" Hikaru complained.

"No way I said it first!"

"Give it to me!"

"Em guys maybe you shouldn't pull it like that..." Haruhi said cautiously.

_**RRIIIIIIIPPPP**_

Oh. Great. Amaya though walking out into the main club room. She saw the twins fighting and Haruhi with her face in her hands. Hikaru was holding Usa-Chan, well most of it anyway. Kaoru was holding one of its legs.

"Oh now you've done it Kaoru!"

"Me? It was obviously your big ogre hands that did it!"

"We're twins! Our hands are identical!"

"Nuh uh!"

"What did you two do now?" Amaya yelled, pulling the dismembered teddy from them.

"We're sorry Amaya." The twins said their eyes round and apologetic.

"Great now it's filthy and torn. Haruhi, is there any sewing needles around here?"

"We can sew! Our mother's a designer!" The twins said trying to redeem themselves.

"No!" Amaya said holding up a hand. "You two just, go over there and don't touch anything."

The twins walked away visibly dejected.

"Here you go Amaya-chan." Haruhi said handing her a sewing box.

"Thanks Haruhi will you make sure that the brownies don't burn, they'll be ready in a little while."

"Sure thing."

Amaya sat down heavily into one of the chairs. She pulled out a needle and thread and got to work.

If I have any luck I'll get this done before squirt wakes up. She thought.

But unfortunately for Amaya, luck was exactly what she was fresh out of.

"What are you dong Amaya-san?" A grumpy voice that was thick with sleep asked. Amaya stiffened a little before fixing on a smile. She imagined that she could put up a decent fight against her cousin but Haruhi and the twins were not nearly as safe.

"Oh hey squirt you're awake. How are you feel-"

"What have you done?" Honey asked quietly, interrupting her.

"I, what?" Amaya asked confused.

"What did you do to Usa-chan?!" Honey shouted running up and tearing the teddy from her hands. The leg was still hanging off and it was stained brown from mud.

"How could you?!" Honey looked murderous, looking threateningly towards her.

"Honey, Amaya didn't," Kaoru put in, before being cut off.

"-Mean it. Sorry squirt it was an accident." Amaya apologised sending Kaoru a warning look. She could handle it if Honey went for her, the twins would get their identical asses kicked.

"Don't call me squirt." Honey whispered.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Don't call me squirt! Don't call me that like you used to! You hate me! You did this on purpose and, and, I won't forgive you! Stay away from me Amaya, I never want to see you again, I hate you!" Honey screamed before running out of the room, clutching Usa-chan.

The twins and Haruhi stared after him in shock.

"Amaya..." Haruhi said nervously, walking up to her friend who was blankly gazing at the floor. She kept swallowing as though there was something suddenly stuck in her throat.

"Don't worry about it Amaya," Hikaru said wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah Honey's always like that when he wakes up." Kaoru added, following his brother's actions.

"He'll come around" They added together.

Amaya blinked a few times and then smiled up at them, "I know, trust me he's said way worse over the years. If you think that's bad you should have seen him when he was younger. Frankly I'm surprised that he didn't attack us all." Amaya chuckled, shaking off their arms.

"I should probably finish cleaning up after the brownies. Wouldn't want Ootori getting mad at me for making a mess." Amaya smiled back at them as she walked into the small kitchen unit attached to the club room. She closed the door behind her with a soft thud.

"Did Amaya's smile seem a little forced to you?" Kaoru asked worried.

"Yeah maybe. What do you think Haruhi?" Hikaru asked.

"I think Amaya mightn't be as good an actor as everyone thinks."

.

.

Amaya leaned against the door and closed her eyes. Her cousin's words played over and over in her head. She heard a sob and realised with a shock that it came from her. She slid down to the ground and rested her head back.

Why am I so upset? She questioned, She never cared what Haninozuka thought of her before. She had always thought that he hated her. Not that she hated him. Disliked, certainly, avoided, of course. But hate? No, she couldn't hate family.

She thought of Grandfather, well perhaps she could.

So why does it matter now?

One thing Amaya always had been able to do was understand people around her, she could read them like books, their actions, their intentions, their feelings, it was all clear to her. Unfortunately this gift acted as a two sided knife. Because she could never hide anything from herself. No selfish or cruel act could be rationalised away. She was incapable of lying to herself. She saw her flaws as bright as day and she hated herself for them. She was hot headed, stubborn, arrogant, proud and, worst of all, spiteful.

So when she asked herself why it mattered suddenly what Mitskuni's opinion of her was, she knew the answer. She had begun to see past their history, somewhere at some point she had wanted to bridge the gap.

And now she had burned all chances of that to the ground. She couldn't tell him the truth, better he hate her rather than the twins.

She flinched at that. I hate you, he had screamed.

"You should Mitskuni. You should." She whispered.

After another moment Amaya stood and brushed herself off. She fixed a smile on her face. Just in time for Haruhi who walked in at that moment.

"Hey Amaya do you want a hand?"

"Sure, that'd be great, thanks Haruhi" Amaya said cheerily.

Hmm, Haruhi thought, maybe she really is fine.


	14. Secret Kindness

Honey slammed the Club Room door behind him and ran through the halls. He didn't really know where he was going all he knew was that he wanted to get as far away from Amaya as possible. He felt tears fall down his face as he thought about what she had done.

Why, why does she hate me so much?, He thought, I was hoping we were getting better but this has shown me that all she wants is to hurt me more and more!

He closed his eyes and shook his head against the rush of emotions pounding away inside him. It worked, however this did mean he wasn't looking where he going.

Which is how he nearly killed Tamaki.

"Ow!" The blonde yelped as he fell to the ground, rubbing the back of his head.

"Honey-senpai? What's wrong?"

But Honey just looked at the ground where he had fallen from the impact. Tamaki squatted down in front of him. He spotted Usa-chan and his eye widened a little in realisation.

"Oh are you upset because Usa-Chan is dirty?"

Honey shook his head, Wordlessly he held up the rabbit and Tamakai could see the leg dangling off it.

"Oh no what happened? I'm sure we can fix it, we'll just get one of the twins to-"

"That's not the problem!" Honey shouted suddenly.

"Ok...Well what is the problem then?" Tamaki asked nervously. He had a sneaking suspicion that Honey may have just woken up.

"Amaya, she, Amaya." Honey struggled to find the words. "She did it. She hates me."

Tamaki smiled sympathetically. "Amaya-chan doesn't hate you, she-"

"Yes she does! Look at what she did! How would you know any different?!" Honey screamed, not wanting to be told that Amaya loved him deep down because they were family or something like that. Being family wasn't always enough to stop you from hating someone. Look at Grandfather, he hated Amaya and vice versa.

Tamaki chewed the inside of his cheek. He knew how he could prove to Honey that Amaya cared about him, but it would involve breaking his promise to her never to tell anyone about it.

But right now Honey thinks she hates him and Tamaki found it hard to believe Amaya would maliciously and purposely harm Usa-chan. Clearly however Honey didn't think it was that unlikely.

Tamaki sighed making his decision.

"Honey-senpai, did Amaya ever tell you about the first time I met her?"

He'd just have to write her an apology.

.

.

Tamaki smiled as he walked through the middle school grounds. He had just finished speaking to some girls in his class if they would be interested in attending a Host Club in Ouran next year. They had given him a good response and that was all he needed to strengthen his resolve.

Now to tell Kyoya about it. I hope he'll agree to set it up with me, Tamaki thought to himself.

So engulfed was he in his thought about Cos plays and finding potential hosts, he was already considering the twins in the year behind him, that he was completely taken aback by the small blonde bombshell that fell out of the tree and in front of him.

"Ah!" He jumped looking at the girl, before him. She was small enough with big brown eyes hidden behind masses of blonde curls that hung to her hips. She was wearing the same uniform as him but Tamaki didn't recognise her.

"Oh are you alright? Did you fall from that tree?"

"Fall, jump whatever way you want to put it." The girl said. Her voice was shaking a little as though she was nervous talking to him.

"Well as long as your okay, that's what matters." Tamaki answered lightly. Maybe he should practise his Hosting Skills on this girl.

"You are okay aren't you?" He asked touching her face lightly.

The girl flinched back from his hand. "What are you doing?"

Tamaki deflated, maybe he should learn to read the moment better.

"Nothing. Oh look at the time. I should be going." Tamaki laughed and started to walk away.

"Wait! I wanted to ask you something." The girl called after him.

"Really? What?" Tamaki asked surprised that she wanted to know something from him when he was so new to this school. And country.

"I overheard you talking to those girls and I was wondering..." The girl seemed to breathe deeply for a moment before continuing. "Are you really going to set up a Host Club in the High school?"

Tamaki blinked in surprise. "Yes I hope so."

The girl nodded, she swallowed before moving on. "And this Host Club, would it have things like cake and, and cute things like teddies and that sort of stuff?"

"Yes, why? Do you like things like that...Princess?" Princess? Tamkai questioned inwardly. I suppose it could work.

The girl scoffed with a smirk. "No not really, I do have a sweet tooth but teddies aren't really my thing. No I was asking because...because..." She trailed off as though she couldn't find the will to continue speaking. She bit her lip and swallowed, her eyes staring at the ground with her fists clenched.

She sighed and looked up at Tamaki, her face suddenly set with determination.

"Alright so if you're going to do this you need hosts right?"

"Yes but I'm afraid we'll only be excepting male hosts..."

"No I don't mean me! Just listen, there's a guy in Ouran, Mitsukuni Haninozuka. He's the captain of the karate team but really I think he'd be happier if he just sat around eating cake with cute toys. And he's good looking, girls are always fawning over him. So could you do me a favour and ask him to be a host?"

"Em...I could look into it..." Tamaki said surprised.

"Oh and another thing, if Haninozuka is going to join your club then his cousin Takashi Morinozuka is going to have to join too. Don't worry though, he's tall, dark and handsome or at least my friends tell me he is." The girl said in a rush.

"Okay so that's all I wanted to say. I'll be leaving now." She finished awkwardly.

"Wait" Tamaki called. "Why do you care what happens to these guys?"

The girl paused and turned to look at him.

"It's complicated. The truth is I didn't think I did. But I don't want him to be unhappy, even if I'm going to be..." She drifted off before looking back at Tamaki as though she was only remembering he was there.

"But don't worry about that. Actually do you mind if I ask you to do one other thing for me?"

"Certainly. What is it?" Tamaki asked a little perplexed by the young girl in front of him.

"Can you promise not to tell anyone that I spoke to you? It's just that I'm going to become a pretty sore issue in a few days."

"I suppose I can do that."

The girl smirked a little. "Do you mind if I hear you say it? Just so I can feel assured."

Tamaki smiled and, although he did not know it at the time, put on his best Host smile. He bowed and in a grand voice said

"I promise not to tell anyone about this meeting, my darling..." Tamaki straightened. "I'm sorry what is your name?"

But the nameless girl had already disappeared, not to return for two years.

.

.

"I never knew that girls name. I didn't even realise it was Amaya until I saw the way she acted around you and Mori. That's when I also knew that you had no idea she was the reason I asked you to join the Host Club in the first place." Tamaki finished telling the memory to Honey with a smile.

Honey opened his mouth to speak but he couldn't think of anything to say. He clutched Usa-chan to his chest tightly as he thought over what he had just heard. He couldn't believe the story Tamaki had just told him, but then hadn't Amaya yelled at him before she left? Hadn't she scolded him for being so pathetic that he had to hide away his true self.

Was that just her way of trying to encourage him to join the club?

Honey hissed in pain as he felt something prick his finger. He looked down and saw something silver and metal poking out of Usa-chan's dangling leg. It was a needle.

She was trying to fix him. Not damage him.

Honey felt tears starting to well up behind his eyes. His chin began to quiver and his nose was getting runny.

"Amaya..." He said, his voice cracking. He turned and sprinted back to the music room.

"Amaya-chan! I'm sorry!"

.  
.

Honey opened the music room door and glanced around. He saw Amaya lying on the couch asleep but there was no one else in the room.

Should I wake her? No maybe I should just let her sleep, he thought as started to close the door before hearing footsteps inside the room.

He glimpsed in again to see Kyo-chan walking towards the couch. He watched as the black haired boy leaned over the back of the couch and gently kissed the top of his cousins head. Amaya's eyelids fluttered open and she smiled sleepily up at Kyoya whose hand came down to brush the flour that was stuck to her cheek.

Honey quietly closed the door. Amaya may be awake now but he didn't really want to interrupt the moment that those two were sharing. Not that he wasn't curious about when exactly those two started sharing moments.

* * *

_**A/N: Ta dah! So that's the secret Amaya didn't want Tamaki spewing all over the place. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and as always please review.**_

_**P.S: Sorry for all the angst-y family drama. Don't worry I have more violence and even some Cos play coming up soon so stay tuned. **_


	15. Kendo Troubles

_**Hey so I've shortened the name to just Close to Home, just if anyone's wondering what story has shown up in there notifications. This doesn't continue directly from the last chapter but don't worry I haven't forgotten about Honey and Amaya. **_

_**So that's all I want to say, so please Review and Enjoy!**_

"How is that even possible?!" Amaya exclaimed, staring at the twins hands in shock.

"Isn't it obvious? They are clearly demons!" Tamaki said backing away.

"Ah you're right! Save me Tamaki!" Amaya squealed running behind the tall blonde.

"What's are you two talking about?" Haruhi asked from across the room where she was entertaining her guests.

"Tamaki and the twins have been playing Rock, Paper, Scissors for the last five minutes and the twins always play the same hand!"

"What can we say?" Kaoru smiled.

"Were just so in sync." Hikaru added, wrapping his arms around his brother's waist causing some of their guests to squeak.

"You know playing that game makes me realise how much I love being with you." Hikaru murmured, his hand cupping Kaoru's face.

"Hikaru..." Kaoru whispered, eyes suddenly going wide. More than one of their guest looked like they might faint.

"Annnnnd we've lost them." Amaya chuckled.

"Excuse me, Amaya-chan? Isn't it time for class?" A small voice came from behind her. She turned to see one of the girls in her year that took her self defence lessons.

Amaya glanced at her watch. "You're right, it is." She whistled and heads swivelled to look at her.

"Moving out!" She ordered. Roughly half the guests stood up, grinning at Amaya's army tone, and said goodbye to the hosts.

"So what are we learning today Boss?" A familiar voice asked. Amaya turned to Hitomi with a smile.

"Well seeing how none of you would shut up about it since I mentioned that I've been doing it for years we're going to have a special class today." She said in a mischievous tone.

"Do you mean...?"

"What I mean is..." Amaya pushed open the gym doors, "Welcome, Ladies, to Kendo 101"

Excited whispers erupted around the room. The girl surged into the room enthusiastically only to stop dead at the sight of a group of teenage boys. They were all holding swords and giving off glares.

"What are you lot doing here? I've booked the gym for this time." Amaya said pushing to the head of the group not even slightly intimidated.

"Yeah we heard. And you requested the Kendo equipment. But you see the problem is we're the Kendo team and we don't feel like handing it over to you." A brown haired boy that appeared to be the leader said.

"Well that's just too bad. It's the school's equipment and Suoh-sama said I could use it. So if you'd be so kind as to give it here..." Amaya held out her hand. None of the boys moved although their eyes darted to the brunette. Amaya pulled her hand back slowly and sighed.

"Am I going to have to take it from you?" She said sweetly.

The boy sneered, "You think that you're so amazing because you're, what? The Women's Self Defence Clubs head? Well I've got news for you, you're doing a lot more harm than good, making these girls think they have a chance against a man."

"Self Defence is about avoiding situations where you might get hurt and if necessary using force to get away." Amaya said rolling her eyes.

"Yeah sure, like you could be capable of enough force to do any real damage!" The boy sniped.

Amaya gritted her teeth before stepping forward. "And Kendo is oh so practical to defend yourself. Tell me do you carry that sword around all the time or are you hoping if you get attacked you'll happen to have it?"

"I don't need a sword to take care of myself." He said through gritted teeth.

Amaya scoffed, "I'm so sure. How about this, lets have a little fight, winner gets the equipment. Either way I want you to get your ass out of my Gym."

The boy laughed. "I don't know, I've been told not to hit girls."

"And if everyone was taught that I wouldn't need to teach these girl self defence would I? Now come on, I haven't got all day."

"Fine." The boy said dropping his sword. Amaya smirked and practically danced into the centre of the hall.

"Should someone get Mori-senpai?" One of the girls whispered.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine." Hitomi replied.

"But isn't he captain of the Kendo club? Won't he get mad if Amaya hurts one of his guys?"

"...On second thoughts, I'll go get Mori." Hitomi said, running out of the room.

"After you," Amaya winked. The boy's brow furrowed and he attempted a kick at her knees. Amaya twirled away and parried with a back hand to his ear. The boy stumbled and turned angry. This time he went in for a punch with far more intent. Amaya dodged it and kicked him in the stomach. He coughed and Amaya giggled light heartedly.

"You really don't know what to do without a sword in your hands do you?"

He snarled and ran at her again, his arms wide like he was going to tackle her. Amaya flew to the floor and he ran over her. She jumped to her feet and she kicked him in the back. He fell to the ground and Amaya straddled him.

"Now remember girls if you get your assailant to the floor you run. I'm just showing off here." She instructed as she locked one of her arms around his neck and the other gripped his hair. Her legs pinned his arms to the floor.

"Next time when I tell you to leave, do it." She hissed in his ear.

"Amaya, leave him." She heard a deep voice order. She sighed but complied. The boy gasped slightly.

"So glad you could join us big brother." She said smirking.

"Big brother? Wait, you're Amaya Morinozuka?"

"Really? Does no one know one know who I am?!" Amaya exclaimed. She folded her arms and feigned offence.

"Why didn't you tell me that? Your brother's on the Kendo team, I would have let you take the equipment."

"_Let_ me? You're really not getting the point are you?" She grabbed the front of his blazer and brought his face closer to hers.

"You don't need to _let_ me do anything." She hissed.

"Amaya, put him down." Mori said pinching the bridge of his nose. No one could get under his skin quite like his little sister could. She let the boy fall back to the ground and walked away from them.

"A bet's a bet. Get out. And leave the equipment." She said as turned her back to them. The boy grunted in annoyance but nodded at his fellow team mates who proceeded to hand over the swords and armour to the girls.

"Stop looking so down trodden. Fair is fair." Amaya said folded against her chest.

"It wasn't fair." Mori said simply.

"Excuse me?"

"You have years of experience and training in hand to hand combat on him. You didn't let him know this. The fight wasn't fair."

Amaya glared at her brother. "Fine." She spat. "Where's your sword? We'll do this 'fairly'." She said to the boy. Amaya heard people arrive behind her but she didn't turn to see who it was, although judging by the fact they sounded like more guys it was probably the rest of the Host Club coming to see what was taking Mori.

Mori shook his head. "Still not fair. You have more training than him."

Amaya threw her hands in the air. "Well what the hell do you suggest?! I'm going to beat him no matter what so what's the difference!"

"It appears we are witnessing a sibling argument. Perhaps this will give us a closer insight to the dynamics of the Morinozuka household!" A voice squealed. Amaya turned and saw that French girl that helped the boys with Cos play. What was her name? Renge?

"Shut up Renge" The twins hissed covering her mouth from either side. She struggled against them yelling, "But I want to see if girls are like boys in Mori's family!"

Amaya tilted her head to the side and smirked. "Of course they are. Our mother fights Honey's father whenever they see each other, and our... grandfather," Amaya coughed, struggling as per usual to mention the old patriarch, "Never thought that girls should be treated differently, right Takashi?"

But Mori suddenly seemed very interested in his shoes.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me! I thought I beat that over protective streak out of you. Is that the real reason you're mad right now? Because I got in another fight? Which by the way I won!"

Mori shrugged, "You won't always."

Amaya stared fiercely at her brother.

"Tell you what, I'm taking the Kendo equipment and you're not getting it back until we have a duel. Morinozuka style." Amaya snapped her fingers and as though she planned it the girls who took her class scooped the equipment up in their arms and walked out of the room.

"But we have Kendo practice tomorrow!" The boy that Amaya had beat up protested.

"Well then Takashi better sleep well tonight. Looks like he'll be having the fight of his life if he wants training to go ahead." And with that Amaya turned on her heal and followed her students out of the hall.

"Way to start a family feud Renge." The twins said poking the girl who went red.

"Em, Mori-senpai, where are you going?" tamaki asked as the tall boy walked past him.

"Home. To train. Come on Mitskuni." He said picking up Honey and carrying him under his arm.

"I'll go make sure Amaya doesn't break anything of value." Kyoya stated leaving the group.

Haruhi sighed. This could not end well.

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Amaya walked up to the music room the next day with anticipation. She had her sword on her hip. She had decided on one instead of dual fighting, Takashi was strong and she'd need the support of both arms blocking his strikes.

Alright. This is it, she thought before pushing the door open, greeted by the usual flower petals.

And by a not so usual sight.

"Welcome, Amaya." The Host Club minus Mori said eerily. Seriously Amaya was pretty sure that they had speaking in unison classes.

"What. The. Hell." She said slowly. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes trying to make sense of what was in front of her.

You see the All Boy, minus one cross dresser, Host Club had decided to take a leaf out of Haruhi's book and put on dresses. And not just any dresses, but old 12th century Japanese style dresses. The twins were in matching Red, Honey was in Pink, Haruhi was in blue, Kyoya was in black and Tamaki in gold. They seemed to have put in hair extensions and were wearing makeup.

"I'm leaving." Amaya said turning to the door before feeling arms wrap around her waist.

"Oh no you don't!" The twins said in her ears.

"We did not go through all this effort to have you leave so soon." Kyoya said pushing his glasses up his nose. The effect was lessened by the eye shadow he was wearing.

"May I ask why you decided to cross dress?"

"It was Renge's idea. It's our way of standing up for you girls seeing how your fight with Mori is basically a battle of the sexes." Tamaki announced spreading his arms wide, clearly enjoying this.

Amaya blinked before laughing uncontrollably. "Really? Where is that French girl, I want to hug her! I can't believe she got you to do this!" Amaya wiped tears from her eyes.

"Us." Kyoya stated.

Amaya's giggling died down. "So-sorry?" She said out of breath, still smiling.

"She got us to do it. As in you included." He said holding up a bag.

Amaya held up her hands "No. Freaking. Way."

"It's cute that you think you have a choice." Hikaru said cupping her face flirtatiously.

Kyoya grabbed her hand pulled her away from Hikaru.

"Come on. Fair is fair, as you so eloquently put it yesterday." He said looking at her. Amaya jutted out her chin before groaning and taking the bag from his hand, walking towards the dressing room.

"I better look hot in this!" She shouted over her shoulder.


	16. Hesitation and Ruthlessness

**_A/N Hey so here's chapter 16. Violence and romance as per usual with this story. Please review! It really encourages me to write when I hear what you think. If there's anything you want to read more of leave it in a review or PM me._**_**  
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**_Anyway, enjoy!_**

* * *

"What is this crap?" Amaya asked pulling her costume out of its bag. It was pretty heavy and she saw that instead of the dress she was expecting it looked more like armour. She took out a pair of heavy leather boots, a padded skirt like material and a fairly impressive pair of shoulder pads. There was a long pole or something as well. She yanked it out and examined it in confusion.

What..?, she thought before a light bulb switched on in her mind. It's a sword case. A fake one clearly but still a sword case none the less.

That's when Amaya clued together exactly what her costume was. She was going to be a samurai.

She laughed a little. "Alright boys, I'll play along." She said beginning to strip.

She swapped her trousers for the skirt. She removed her shirt and began trying to figure out how she got into the top half of her outfit when she heard footsteps approach.

"Amaya? Are you ready yet?" She recognised Kyoya's voice.

"Not quite. I think I need some help with this piece." She called back. A moment later Kyoya walked in, momentarily fazed by the fact she was topless. He cleared his throat.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"I'm not sure how to get into this. I can't find a zip or anything..."

"Just pull it over your head."

"I would but it's pretty hard to co-ordinate. Can you give me a hand?"

Kyoya pushed his glasses up his nose. "Alright. Put your hands in the air." Amaya complied and he blinked as the movement made her chest stick out. Amaya chuckled.

"You know a Lady shouldn't stare." She quipped.

Kyoya rolled his eyes. "I'll have you know I was forced into this get up."

"So you're telling me this is the first time you've gone drag."

Kyoya paused. Amaya started laughing again. "My aren't you just full of surprises Ootori." He replied by shoving the top over her arms and head.

"Still," Her voice came to him through the fabric, "I don't see why you're so affected by my being topless. It's not like its anything you haven't seen before." She smiled at him mischievously when her head came through.

"Well I wasn't quite expecting to see them now." He replied coolly. He placed his hands around her waist and hers looped around his neck.

"Are you coming over again tonight?"She asked, playing with his extensions.

"I might. I have to be back by eleven as usual though." He said brushing the wisps of hair framing her face behind her ear.

"That's okay. I rather enjoy having the bed to myself if I'm honest." After another moment Amaya cocked her head to the side.

"I have a question. Well actually I have two."

"Go on."

"One." She said holding up a finger, "Is Haruhi technically cross dressing right now?"

Kyoya laughed. "I suppose that depends on who you ask. What's question number two?"

"_Why_ do you insist on screwing with my sexual orientation? Do you not realise how hot you look in a dress?"

Kyoya chuckled again. "Sorry for the confusion. If it's any consolation you make a beautiful Samurai."

She smiled a half smile at him and began to lean closer, their lips about to meet. Kyoya closed his eyes, anticipating the kiss. But it didn't come. Instead he heard her giggling. He opened his eyes to see her head against his chest, her shoulder shaking from her laughter.

"I'm, I'm sorry it's just...The lipstick" She smirked again, trying to contain her amusement.

Kyoya felt himself smile at her. "Ah yes, I almost forgot about that. I probably shouldn't make a mess of it."

"No, wouldn't want people making assumptions about us." She winked at him before dethatching herself and going back to the last few parts of her costume.

"Yes, we can't have that." He muttered leaving her to finish changing.

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.

Amaya's hand reached for the fake sword but retracted. What was the point in carrying that around when she had her own? She attached her blade to her hip and held her helmet under her arm.

"Can someone explain to me," She asked when she walked into the main music room, "Why am I a Samurai?"

Suddenly there was a loud metallic whirring of gears. Renge emerged from the ground on her spinning pedestal laughing like the maniac they knew she was.

"It's simple! Just as the boys show respect to us girls, you have to show respect to the boys. Got to keep things even!" She squealed sticking out her tongue.

"And Renge had a spare Samurai costume she wanted to make someone wear." Hikaru added.

"Hey! It's a fabulous costume. Look how powerful Amaya looks! Although it would be better if you put the helmet on."

Amaya sighed but did as she requested. "Just so you know I'm not duelling in this."

"Aw!" Renge complained.

"Speaking of the duel, where's Mori-senpai?" Haruhi asked.

"He's coming later. He preparing himself for the fight." Honey said happily.

"You don't seem too concerned about your two cousins killing each other, Honey-senpai." Tamakai noted.

"Ah it's okay. It's like when I fight Chicka-chan. It doesn't mean we're mad at each other." He grinned and twirled, an action that was all the cuter because he was in a dress.

"Actually I'm pretty sure for Chicka-" Amaya began.

"Perhaps we should get into our positions. Club hours will be starting soon." Kyoya interrupted. Amaya rolled her eyes and the hosts moved into their seats. The twins started practicing their giggle.

Amaya sat down in her usual spot in the corner.

This was going to be a _long_ day.

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After what seemed like an eternity of squealing and Amaya trying to figure out if Hikaru's and Kaoru's act was Yaoi or Yuri now the doors opened and her brother walked in. He moved as silently and expressionlessly as he always did. That was until he saw what his little sister and his friends were wearing. He faltered before walking over to Honey's table. Amaya noted that he was wearing traditional Kendo armour with a sword on his back.

"Ladies and Gentleman!" Tamakai sang in an impressively high voice. "Can I have your attention please! I'd like to invite my darling Princesses to take a seat! Our entertainment will commence shortly." He curtsied and received a round of applause.

"Nicely done boss." Kaoru praised.

"Yeah, you make a better girl than Haruhi." Hikaru added. Tamakai looked shocked and ran into the corner with Haruhi following him, trying to coax him out.

"You two should be more careful with comments like that." Amaya said quietly, sticking her head between the twins'.

"I mean, you're taking a pretty big risk dressing her up like that in the first place. I'm surprised none of these girls have had an epiphany about her true gender."

"Relax. We dress her up like a girl all the time. No one's noticed." They said dismissively.

"You...dress her...as a girl...and no one has...realised?" Amaya asked slowly.

"Nope, not even Renge and she's been her for months." They said upbeatly.

Amaya stood up straight. "Hey Tamakai can I borrow your corner? I've just become depressed about the state of humanity." She called, walking towards the blonde. She felt someone catch her hand. Amaya glanced up and saw Kyoya holding it.

"I think it's time to get changed. That is unless you intend to fight in something that you can barely move in." Kyoya said calmly.

Amaya smirked and pulled her hand from his grasp. "You know, Ootori, if you want me out of my clothes all you have to do is say so." She winked flirtatiously making the twins laugh. They were used to Amaya's playful comments to Kyoya by now. She strutted off to the changing rooms, the three boys watching her go.

When Kyoya turned around he saw the twins looking at him.

"Yes?"

"We didn't say anything." They sang.

.

.

Amaya walked back out to the Music room with fresh apprehension. She was in her own armour now. It was light, allowing her to do the quick movements her form was based on. This meant it was weaker, however, something Takashi would know.

I'll just have to make sure he can't land a hit, Amaya though positively, attempting to shake off her nerves.

She stood on one side of the room and faced her brother. His face was as stoic as ever but Amaya could see the slight twitch of his jaw that showed his uneasiness. Whether that was due to the fact he might lose or hurt his sister she didn't know.

The room fell silent as all eyes turned to the two siblings, neither of which had moved. The tension mounted and it seemed like everyone in the room was simultaneously holding their breath.

"Oh for God Sake! Someone do-" Renge exploded, but before she could finish Takashi darted forward. It was a simple jab and Amaya danced away from the attack.

She circled him and smiled. Now the fun really starts.

She lunged at him and he blocked her blow with his sword. She pulled back to attack again but he stepped out of her range. He swung at her knees and she jumped and twirled, landing in a crouch. She heard the girls, and possibly Tamakai, gasp. She smirked at her brother, whose eyes flickered with annoyance.

Takashi moved in again this time going for her arm but she parried his blow and attempted a stab at his leg. He lifted it and spun, like a giant, sword wielding ballerina, to the side. Amaya's breath caught in her throat. Her stomach was exposed. She wouldn't be able to move her arm back in time. He was going to win.

She glanced at her brother and saw his eyes widen with realisation. His arms moved to deliver the blow that would be deathly should they have been using real swords. She prepared her muscles so the hit wouldn't leave much of a mark. But it didn't seem to be coming. She looked at her brother and with a shock saw the hesitation on his face. His face took on a look of resolution but it was too late now.

Amaya took her chance and brought her sword to block the strike that should have ended the fight. She caught Takashi's foot with her own and shoved him back causing him to stumble. With new found ferocity she hooked his sword with her own and yanked it from his grasp, unarming him. She spun and kicked him in the stomach knocking him flat out on the ground. Her foot pinned his chest and her sword tip came to his throat. Takashi stilled. The fight was over. She had won.

The two looked at each other panting. After a moment Amaya put her weapon on the ground and offered her brother her arm. He clasped it with his hand and she helped pull him up. There was another moment of silence and then the room erupted into applause.

"Congratulations." Takashi nodded to his sister.

"Thank you." She said a little stiffly. He turned to leave but she grabbed his shoulder. "Takashi. Hesitation can get you killed."

Takashi paused, and then shook off her hand and walked away.

Amaya sighed and put on her smile to greet her students who swarmed her. Her eyes strayed to her brother's retreating back.

If you hadn't hesitated you _would_ have won. I wanted to prove to you I didn't _need _you protecting me because I'm your sister. But it is because _I am _your sister that you didn't attack. Sentimentality and empathy have no place in a fight. He could have won but that doesn't mean he _let_ me win. I may not be the better fighter but I am the more ruthless one. Which means I'll always win. Until I meet someone just as vicious as I am, Amaya thought.


	17. Prizes and Tattoos

_**A/N Did you see? This story has over 30 followers! Okay I know that's not a lot when you think about the fact that a lot of stories have hundreds but still the fact that 30 people like this enough to keep up with it makes me feel all fuzzy and emotional. Thank you all so much!**_

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"So are you ready for your prize Amaya-chan?" Tamaki asked grinning his arms spread wide. Amaya detangled herself from her fans to stare at him distrustfully.

"That depends...what is it?"

"We are bringing you on a trip! You get to accompany the Host Club on our next vacation!" He looked very pleased with himself. Amaya raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Next vacation? How many of these do you guys go on?" But she didn't get an answer as her voice was drowned out by excited guests squealing.

"Oh my god! A trip!"

"Can we come, Tamaki-senpai?"

"Where are we going?"

Tamaki laughed and ran a hand through his hair. Which took a little longer than usual considering he was still in drag. "Don't worry my Princesses you can all come! We're going to a lovely little seaside town where we will have access to our own private beach! Amaya will naturally be working as your body guard on the trip. We can't have anyone harming our precious darlings, can we?" The girls squeaked with excitement.

"Wait, I still have to work? What kind of prize is that?" Amaya said, unheard by the king and his loyal fan girls.

"Well we need someone to look after the girls." Hikaru said leaning his arm on Amaya's shoulder.

"Especially after what happened with Haruhi last time." Kaoru added, copying his brother.

"Why, what happened with Haruhi?" Amaya asked.

"She got in a fight and nearly drowned. No biggie." The twins said grinning mischievously.

"Really?" Amaya asked looking over at the other girl.

Huh, she thought, Good for her.

.

.

"Man this stuff is hard to get off!" Hikaru complained as he scrubbed at the mascara that was stubbornly refusing to come off.

"Maybe you shouldn't have used so much." Haruhi noted, trying to sit very still as Amaya removed her hair extensions.

"Yeah Hikaru, you know what they say about girls that wear too much make-up." Kaoru teased his brother, poking his cheek.

"If anyone is wearing too much it's Tamaki. You know, you're not supposed to colour your cheeks in with blush. Or your eyes." Amaya noted.

"I look pretty." Tamaki stated twirling, making Haruhi smile.

"You look trashy." Amaya said snapping her fingers sassily. Tamaki fainted at the remark.

"Tamaki please get off the floor. We have planning to do." Kyoya sighed as he came out of the changing room, adjusting his tie. He had managed to remove the make-up but the hair extensions were still in place.

"Done!" Amaya claimed triumphantly holding up Haruhi's extensions.

"Thanks Amaya. I really hate trying to get those things out."

"No problem. Who's next?" She asked. The twins had already taken each other's out and Tamaki was busy being dramatic. Honey was curled up asleep, his head lying on Takashi's lap.

"Ootori. Sit." Amaya ordered. Kyoya rolled his eyes but complied, not completely put off by the idea of Amaya running her fingers through his hair. It was kind of indicative of what they would be doing later.

"So," Amaya said as her fingers danced through the black locks. "When are we going on this trip?"

Tamaki snapped back up and smiled. "We are leaving the day after tomorrow and staying for three days. It's going to be so much fun!"

"You remind me of my dad when you speak like that in those clothes." Haruhi muttered. Tamaki smiled and scooped her up in his arms.

"Did you hear that? Haruhi called me daddy!"

"Technically I think she was just drawing similarities" Kyoya stated. He winced when Amaya accidently pulled his hair tightly. She muttered an apology.

"I'm counting it." Tamaki said.

"_So_ how are we getting there?" Amaya asked trying to draw their attention back to the matter at hand.

"Limos, how else?" Hikaru asked from where him and Kaoru were lying with their legs on top of each other on the couch.

"Okay. Hey Haruhi, want a lift?" Amaya asked.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to go through any trouble." Haruhi said pulling herself out of Tamaki's arms.

"Yeah, it's fine. I'll pick you up from your apartment. Actually shouldn't you tell your dad your disappearing for a few days."

Haruhi shrugged. "He's used to it by now, thanks to these guys."

Amaya chuckled. "I suppose he would be. All done." She announced, freeing Kyoya from her clutches.

"Thank you, Amaya." He said politely.

From the couch Kaoru squinted his eyes at the two. He was beginning to wonder if something might be going on besides flirting.

"Hey Hikaru..." He siad.

"What is it Kaoru?"

The younger twin chewed the inside of his cheek contemplatively. Then again, if nothing was going on he didn't want to invoke the wrath of Kyoya.

"Never mind."

.

.

Later that night Amaya wrapped her arms around the Shadow king's neck. Their lips met passionately, tongues dancing, hands roaming. Amaya vaguely remembered wanting to say something to him but right now her mind was blank. Instead she hitched her legs up around his waist and let him carry her to the bedroom.

After wards, when they were both panting, Amaya realised what it was she wanted to say.

"You know, this trip mean we're going to have to behave ourselves for a few days." She trailed her fingers over his chest.

"Yes I'm aware. Especially considering we don't want anyone knowing that we are..."

"Having fun." Amaya finished with a smile.

"Exactly." Kyoya smirked. He brushed her hair back from her face.

Damn he looks hot with no glasses on, Amaya thought.

"I don't know who would react worst, Tamaki or Takashi." She said with a grin.

"Why, how do you think Tamaki would react?"

"I'm thinking that he'll accuse me of defiling his mother."

"I'm not his mother. I'm his..." Kyoya frowned.

"Yeah, it's not much better when you think about it that way either." Amaya chuckled.

"Yes, let's not consider the possibility that my best friend thinks I'm his wife." Kyoya said, sitting up.

"Alright. How about we think about something else." Amaya said mischievously leaning in and kissing him. He cupped her face and all thoughts of Tamaki were forgotten.

.

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Amaya threw the last of the clothes she was bringing into her bag. The car was waiting for her outside and she still had to pick up Haruhi. She imagined Ootori wouldn't be too impressed if they were late and ruined his fantastic organising. She walked into her training room and scanned her glass presses. Inside were her various throwing knifes, swords and air soft guns.

Well Tamaki did say I'm supposed to be the body guard on this thing, She thought, pulling out a selection of the small blades and two air soft guns.

"Okay. So clothes check, swim suit check, toiletries check, self defence gear check." She ticked off when her eyes trailed to the bed side locker that contained her _ other_ kind of protection. She knew that her and Ootori agreed to keep their hands to themselves but...

Biting her lip she made a snap decision and grabbed the box and flung it in her bag. Girl can't be too careful, she rationalised.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and stroked her cats one last time before leaving . Her next door neighbour had agreed to feed them while she was away.

Alright. Let's go see what exactly the Host Club does for fun.

.

.

Haruhi ran from room to room trying to find her things.

"Dad! Have you seen my bag?!" She called. She had it a minute ago didn't she?

"Here honey!" Her dad said, proudly holding out by the strap. Haruhi paused, her hand hesitating, and eyed her father suspiciously.

"Did you put something in it?"

Her father blinked innocently, "Oh Haruhi don't be silly! Why would I do something like that?"

"Dad..." Haruhi sighed when there was a knock on the door. Amaya had arrived.

"Well do you hear that? Sounds like you should get going." He chimed shoving the bag in her arms and opening the door.

"Hello, Ranka-san." Amaya said happily.

"Hi Amaya, how are you? Looking forward to the trip?"

"Yes sir I am. Oh Haruhi my driver can put that in the car for you." Amaya said.

Haruhi shook her head politely, "No that's okay, I got it." She walked out to the car, Amaya had opted for the subtler sleek black car rather than the limo, and opened the booth.

"Oh are you sure Haruhi, you don't have to do that..." Amaya said emotionlessly, once the other girl was out of ear shot she spun to face Ranka who was looking at her deviously.

"Did you put it in?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, here take this. Be sure to take as many pictures as possible." He said seriously, handing her a camera.

"Yes Sir," She gave him a mock salute and jogged down to the car and got in.

"Ready for fun in the sun?" Amaya said playfully.

"You're new to this so I'm not going to ruin your expectations by answering that." Haruhi answered, climbing into the car.

Amaya chuckled.

.

.

_And now for the weather. Today we can expect high temperatures with little cloud cover. However there will be rain clouds moving in from the west which should hit the area sometime early tonight. There is a possibility of stormy weather in the area tonight so small boats are advised not to go out to sea after dark._

Amaya saw Haruhi stiffen slightly. She cocked her head to the side and wondered what could have caused her to suddenly get a worried expression on her face. Had it been something on the radio? But all they had been discussing was the weather...

Unless Haruhi's afraid of storms? She thought.

"Hey Haru-chan are you okay?" Amaya asked.

Haruhi laughed nervously, "Yeah I'm fine, just got a little distracted there."

Amaya rolled her eyes. "You know for a girl that spends a lot of her time pretending to be a boy you are an awful liar."

Haruhi sighed. She should have guessed that trying to trick Amaya would be futile. This was the girl that figured out her gender without even speaking to her.

"I'm just not a big fan of thunder is all. But I'll be fine, I mean they said it was only a possibility." Haruhi smiled encouragingly.

"Oh, do the guys know?" Amaya asked.

Haruhi's cheeks went faintly pink. "Em Tamaki and Hikaru know. They were with me during storms before..."

Amaya pursed her lips and considered that. The two guys with the strongest feelings for Haruhi have both seen her at her weakest. That's interesting.

"Well if you get scared tonight feel free to crash my room." Amaya offered smiling.

"Thanks Amaya that's really-" But Haruhi's phone chose to go off at that moment.

"Hello" She said answering it. Quickly she held it out from her ear when she heard the screeching voice on the other end. Tamaki, Amaya mused, seemed to be wondering where his daughter was.

"Where are you? Did you crash? Did Amaya kidnap you? Did _she_ get kidnapped? Did you over sleep? Are you quitting the club? Are you fleeing the country because you got involved with a commoners gang who are addicted to coffee?! Is commoners coffee just code for drugs?! Are you a drug pusher, answer your father!" He wailed.

"Tamaki calm down." Haruhi sighed. Amaya grinned and leaned across the seat and spoke into the mouth piece.

"Hey Haruhi, come on! It's your turn. Which tattoo did you say you want again? The flaming skull or the bloody dagger?" Amaya said.

"Tattoo! What's going on there?!" Tamkai yelped.

"Haruhi's getting a tattoo?" The twins voices came through the receiver.

"Thanks Amaya." Haruhi said at her friend who winked at her.

"Which cheek did you say wanted it on, again?" Amaya added.

"You're getting a tattoo on your face?" Tamaki questioned.

"I'm not getting a tattoo!" Haruhi shouted down the phone.

"Well then why are you in a tattoo studio?" Tamaki questioned. Amaya started snickering on the leather seats.

"I'm not in a tattoo studio. Look we'll be there in a minute! I'll call you when we arrive." Haruhi said snapping the phone shut.

"I really hate you." She said looking at her friend.

"I don't even care. Do you think he'll check your cheeks when we get there?" Amaya asked wickedly. Haruhi went a little pink and turned to look out the window, feigning indignance.

Totally worth it, Amaya thought, leaning her head back, the occasional giggle slipping out.

_**A/N Hey again. So I know this chapter isn't the best and is a little choppy but its more to lead up for future situations. Please forgive me for the mediocrity. The next one should be a bit more interesting. **_

_**Again thank you all so much for following, favouriting (not a word but it should be) and reviewing. Especially the reviews which have been great and just motivate me to write. Please if you have time tell me what you think. I'd love to hear what you have to say about the story. **_


	18. Bodyguard Duties

_**A/N:**_

_**...This story has over 30 reviews...Okay be cool, be cool, AH! (Starts sprinting around the room in delirious happiness before running into a wall and falling to the ground unconscious).**_

Haruhi stepped out of the sleek black car only to be rugby tackled by a tall blonde blur.

"Haruhi! Are you alright?! That horrible girl didn't destroy your innocence did she?" Tamaki held Haruhi's face in his hands, his eyes searching for any permanent marks.

"Hey!" Amaya said, protesting to the word horrible.

"I'm fine senpai, let go of my face!" Haruhi protestedd through Tamaki's hands. She pulled his hands off and gasped slightly. Amaya and the twins started giggling behind them.

"If you are done checking Haruhi for lasting additions to her appearance we do have work to do. A lot more considering _you two_ are late." Kyoya said his arms folded in irritation.

Amaya smirked. "Sorry, Ootori. What do you want us to do?"

"Well you can get changed for a start. I believe Renge was looking for you Amaya. Something about an outfit." Kyoya added as he handed Haruhi a bag containing her swimsuit and t-shirt.

"Why am I suddenly scared?" Amaya asked.

"Because it's Renge." Haruhi said swinging the bag over her shoulder and going to the car booth to get her other ones. Tamaki squeaked and ran up to her.

"Here Haruhi, let me help." He pulled at the handles.

"No it's okay, I have it."

"Don't be silly! Daddies have to help their daughters." He grabbed her bag and carried them. Haruhi rolled her eyes but left him to it.

"Tamaki please leave the princely behaviour for the guests. We have people here to carry the bags." Kyoya sighed and, as if he summoned them, a group of five servants dressed in black uniforms appeared and scooped up Amaya's and Haruhi's bags.

"But...I..." Tamkai said as one of them took the suitcase from him. He looked a little deflated.

"Just go get changed." Kyoya ordered clearly not in a good mood.

"What's up with Ootori?" Amaya whispered to the twins. Hikaru smirked and leaned into her ear,

"He had to wake up early today. He's not exactly cheery when he wakes up."

"He's AB" Kaoru added in her other ear. Amaya stiffened.

"You mean...Ootori goes all Mitsukuni when he wakes up in the morning?"

"Basically." They said together. Amaya shivered.

"Right well I'm going to get dressed before he demands a human sacrifice." Amaya said walking towards the large mansion in front of her. The twins looked at each other mischievously before following her.

"We'll come too." Hikaru said as they linked arms with Amaya.

"Yeah, we'll help you find Renge."

Amaya rolled her eyes but let the two devils half drag her to the crazy French girl.

.

.

"Yay, you're here!" Renge squealed through her microphone when the three arrived.

"Yup, that I am. Now where's this costume you're dressing me in?"

"The twins left it in the changing room. Come on, let's get you ready!" Renge said grabbing Amaya's wrist.

"Wait...Why did _the twins _put it in the changing room?" Amaya asked, nervously eyeing the suddenly pleased looking duo.

"They picked it out silly! I just added some things to it so now it's cos-play!" Renge said happily before dragging the blonde into the changing room.

This does not bode well for me, Amaya thought.

.

.

The twins smirked at each other as they waited for Amaya to emerge from the changing rooms. They had been very happy with their choice of outfit for her and had for once approved Renge's additions to their mother's work.

"Why have you two not changed yet?" An annoyed voice came from behind them. They jumped and spun around to look into the dark eyes of the shadow king.

"We're waiting for-OW!" Hikaru began before Kaoru stepped down hard on his foot.

"What was that for?" Hikaru asked his brother angrily.

"Don't know what you're talking about" Kaoru answered innocently, avoiding the other two boys eyes. Thankfully he was saved from other questions as a shout pierced the air.

"For the last time, I'm not putting on the damn wig!" Amaya snapped from inside the changing room. The next moment Renge came flying out through the doors and landed with an oof. She was holding a brunette wig with a long braid.

"But you need to! Otherwise the outfit doesn't make sense!" Renge complained, clearly unhurt.

"I don't care! It's bad enough I'm wearing these stupid thigh holsters!" Amaya screamed back, coming outside. The boys' breath collectively caught in their throats when they saw her.

She was wearing a spaghetti strapped, black bikini. She had a matching pair of short-shorts hung low on her hips, with a belt slung diagonally across it. Mid-way on each of her thighs she had black Velcro straps that were holding knifes. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she looked absolutely venomous as her and Renge glared at one another.

Kyoya was the first to snap out of the hormone induced shock.

"May I ask exactly who you're dressed as, Amaya?"

"She's supposed to be Lara Croft. But she won't wear the wig!" Renge pouted.

"I told you, I'm not putting it on."

"Oh come on! It's Lara Croft! Her trademark is her braid!"

"Actually I'm pretty sure her trademarks are her giant boo-" Kaoru siad.

"In any case." Kyoya interrupted. "I think Amaya looks fine. She will fit perfectly into her role as body guard in that outfit." He pushed up his glasses and turned away, as he walked past them he sent the twins a thinly concealed glare.

"I suggest you two get ready." The twins swallowed and looked at each other.

"Yes sir!" They mock saluted.

.

.

"Hey Amaya think fast!" Hikaru's voice came to her and she automatically turned to see a volley ball heading straight for her face.

She fell to the ground and pushed off with her hands, flipping in the air. Her feet connected with the ball sending it right back to the red head like a boomerang. It hit him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Kaoru gasped and fell to his knees beside the fallen Hitachiin.

"Hikaru! Speak to me!" He shouted, cradling his brother head in his lap.

"Kao..Kaoru..." Hikaru whispered. The guests they had been playing with slowly converged forward as the act played out in front of them.

"Hikaru! Stay with me! You can't leave me, I'm nothing without you!" Kaoru's eyes started watering.

"No Kaoru, no tears." Hikaru's hand weakly came up to stroke his twins face.

"EEP!" The girl's squeaked.

Amaya pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. Fate in gender...fading...

"You okay, Ama-chan?" Her cousin's voice asked. She glanced up, yes up, to see a pair of big brown eyes.

"Hmm? Yeah I'm fine just the normal loss of faith. What are you two up to?"

"Going for a walk." Takashi answered. He had Mitsukuni on his shoulders and the two were getting a lot of starry eyed looks from the nearby girls.

"Would you like to come?" Mitsukuni asked brightly. Neither of them wanted the guests to know about their less than comfortable relationship so this request didn't really surprise Amaya. What surprised her was the genuine note to the invitation.

Amaya smiled warmly. "Thanks but I have to stay here and make sure these lovely ladies are okay."

"Aw Amaya! You're _so_ sweet!" The girls said emotionally.

"Don't worry about it. You girls have fun. I'm sure these two can keep you safe." She gave her relatives a wink and then left them to their walk. She figured she should check how things were going further up the beach so she strolled up that way. She stopped after a while and stared out over the ocean. Some of the guests saw her and she waved at them. They giggled and waved back.

"You know, if we had been able to pass you off as a boy, you would have made a fine host." Kyoya said from behind her. She hadn't heard him come up, unusual for her.

She smirked not turning her head as she looked straight on. "Damn my femininity! How I _wish_ I could dress as a boy and flirt with young women!"

"I'm sure you would have adapted to it quite well."

Amaya chuckled. "I think I prefer being a girl. Especially at times when I get to wear things like _this_ in front of _you_."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow. He stepped a little closer to her and whispered in her ear. "Careful. I thought we agreed to behave ourselves?"

Amaya pouted. "Maybe I don't _want_ to behave myself."

He chuckled into her ear. He checked no one was looking their way and brushed his lips against her neck.

"Try." He mumbled. He kissed her quickly on her temple and then left.

Amaya sighed and decided she might go for a swim to cool off when she heard a shout coming from where the twins were playing volley ball. She glanced up and saw three unknown figures standing beside the group. The girls were bunched up. Suddenly one of the new comers pushed someone to the ground.

Amaya started sprinting as her mind identified the one on the ground with red hair.

.

.

"Ready Hikaru?" Kaoru asked, preparing to hit the ball over the net.

"Born ready, Kaoru. Now hurry up." He teased back.

"Can we join in?" The two looked up in confusion to the strange voice.

"Who are you?" They asked in unison.

"Don't remember us? We're the two guys you tried to kill last time you rich bastards showed up here." One of them said, surprisingly confident. Possibly because they had back up this time.

"What the hell do you two want?" Hikaru snarled, the guests started to cower behind them.

"We just thought we'd say hi. How's that friend of yours? Did he drown?" The other guy from last time said smirking. The third member of their group that wasn't there last time grinned. He was pretty big, like Mori big.

"Don't talk about Haruhi!" Kaoru shouted.

"Haruhi, ey? Good to know his name when we find him later." The big one threatened.

"You're not going to touch him!" Hikaur snapped, lunging at them. The new guy knocked him to the ground with the back of his hand like he was nothing.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru screamed, running to his brother but his arms were suddenly grabbed behind his back. One of the guys from before faced him with an evil smile.

"This is going to be fun."

"Oh, I agree with you there, sweet heart." A new voice purred.

The trio turned to see a tall blonde wearing a black bikini and hot pants. She was pretty hot and her brown eyes glinted with something fringing on animalistic.

The big guy scoffed. "I suggest you run girlie. This ain't got nothing to do with you."

"Doesn't have anything."

"What?" He asked confused, his brow furrowing.

"Doesn't have anything. Not 'ain't got nothing'. There is no excuse for butchering our poor language."

"You calling me stupid?"

"Are you calling me stupid. And yes dear, I'm afraid I am." She spun on her heel and caught the back of his neck with her foot. He crumbled to the ground, unconscious. His two friends stared at her in shock.

"I'm sorry I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Amaya. Amaya Morinozuka." She knelt down to Hikaru and helped him up.

"Morinozuka?" The one holding Kaoru asked, wide eyed. Suddenly he began to notice the things that her beauty had distracted him from. Her toned muscles for example.

"Yes. I take it you've heard of my family." She dusted off Hikaru's chest.

"Man, we should go." He released Kaoru and pulled his friend's arm, who shook him off.

"Why, she's just one chick."

"Dude she's a Morinozuka. Their family aren't normal!"

"So what?" The boy stepped closer to Amaya and put his hand around her throat. "You don't scare me."

Amaya smiled widelyand went into teacher mode. "Pay attention girls. In this situation your attacker has an obvious advantage. First thing you want to do is break the hold." Rapidly she brought her arm and grabbed his wrist and twisted it.

"Next you want to make it so that he is in no position to run after you or grab you again. I feel the traditional crotch shot works well here." She kneed him painfully and he gasped slumping over.

"At this point you should make your escape. Clearly I'm in a different situation so I am going to apprehend my attacker." She yanked his arm viciously back and forced it into a lock behind him. She kicked him in the back and he fell forward, his face in the sand. She straddled him and wrapped her arm around his neck in a choke hold. The twins grabbed his friend who attempted to come to the other boy's aid.

"Now little boy I want you to listen very carefully. You feel this arm around your neck? Do you want to know what I can do with it? First off I can tighten it." She did and he began to claw at her arm as his oxygen supply was caught off. "Or even use it gain access to this lovely artery here, which could so easily be cut." She removed one of her knifes from her holster and gently slid it over his throat.

"Or if I was feeling in the mood for a more manual way of doing things I could simply snap your neck." She put down her knife and snaked her hand to his chin, threatening to come good on her words. The boy began to struggle under her in fear. She pulled her hand back and grabbed a fistful of his hair.

"So to summarise, when someone says they are a Morinozuka you do exactly what you're little friend wanted to do. You run." She hissed in his ear. She smacked him on his ears to disorientate him and then stood up, letting him leave. He shakily rose and looked at her. She pretended to dart towards him and he flinched. The twins let the other boy go and they ran off, not even looking at the third member of their party who was still lying flat out on the ground.

"Go Amaya!" Hikaru cheered high fiving her.

"Yeah, you're a real badass you know that?" Kaoru said ruffling her hair.

She smirked and then jutted her chin towards the unconscious giant.

"What are we going to do about him?"

Hikaru smiled evily. "Well...the tide is coming in..."

Amaya laughed. "No, bad Hikaru. No murder. Come on, let's drag him further up the beach."

"Fine. If you won't let us kill him can we do something else unspeakable to him?" Kaoru asked, taking one of his arms and heaving.

"Depends, what do you have in mind?" Amaya said as she pulled the guy's leg.

"Hand him over to Kyoya."

Amaya paused. "You know maybe we should let him drown. It would be more humane."

_**.**_

_**Okay so I may have gotten a little over excited there...But seriously thank you all so much especially those of you who continually give me feedback and support! Marina Striker, Miramisa90212 and irok2hard I'm looking at you guys.**_

_**So I thought as a way of celebrating getting to a certain number of Reviews/Favourites/Follows such as 30, 40, 50 e.t.c, I could do a sort of a special to show you how much I really do appreciate you guys for reading this. I was thinking that when we hit one of these numbers you can send me idea's for one shots you'd like me to write either in relation to this fanfiction or just the original characters.**_

_**There are no rules for these one shots. They can be about anything you want (as long as it doesn't get me trouble with Fanfiction) and any rating you want. This is about me thanking you so really anything you fancy reading you could tell me it and I'll write it.**_

_**This was just an idea I had. Please tell me either in a review or PM me if you think I should do it. Or if you feel that frankly reading one of these from me is enough than please tell me that to.**_

_**Anyway if you managed to read through that entire and overly long A/N than (a) congratulations on your commitment and (b) please review!**_


	19. Electricity

"For the last time, Takashi, I'm_ fine_" Amaya insisted, her arms crossed across her chest as her brother inspected her face for any injuries.

"He grabbed your throat." He said simply, tilting her head up to get a good luck at her neck.

"Not very well as you can plainly see." Amaya rolled her eyes. She had already checked for bruises and saw that she had none. The idiots on the beach didn't cause any damage to her.

Takashi's jaw tightened for a nanosecond before he accepted her well being and returned to Honey's side.

"Don't worry Mori, Amaya took those guys out." Kaoru said, grinning, leaning lazily on Hikaru. The two had been extra clingy since nearly seeing the other one get hurt. It was kind of cute in an overly-attached kind of way.

"Well, we helped." Hikaru added.

"How? From what I hear, _you_ were on the ground and _you _had your arms pulled behind your back." Haruhi said pointing at the appropriate twin as she spoke.

"We shouted. Without are raised voices how could Amaya have come to help?" Hikaru answered smiling.

"Yes, your damsel in distress cries were very useful." Amaya snickered, making Hikaru scowl.

"If you are quite done discussing what could have made this a rather unpleasant trip, it is time to bid the girls farewell before returning to the mansion for dinner." Kyoya interrupted. Kaoru thought he seemed a little on edge, the question was, was it because of what happened or because it happened _to her._

Speculation aside he had to admit Kyoya had a point so he followed the other hosts out to where the girls were waiting for them to say goodbye.

.

.

"It looks like we were lucky with the weather huh Takashi? I think it's gonna rain soon." Honey said sweetly, staring up at the sky from his cousin's shoulders.

Amaya glanced sharply up, Sure enough dark clouds had moved in overhead with the fading light. She turned her gaze to Haruhi who had visibly stiffened.

Looks like her fear is already starting to take hold, Amaya thought worriedly. Suddenly a light bulb switched on in her head.

It's going to rain tonight, Haruhi knows that for sure, but what if she has no way of knowing if there is a storm going on?

Amaya grinned as her mind whirred into gear.

.

.

"Ah!" Haruhi yelped as she felt arms grab her around the waist.

"Relax its just me. I'm kidnapping you, hope you don't mind." Amaya whispered in her ear with a smirk.

Haruhi's brow furrowed. "Why?"

She felt Amaya shrug, "I want a girls night in and I'm not convinced you'll give me one willingly. So..." She pulled Haruhi backwards and commenced dragging her to her room.

"I don't have a choice do I?"

"Nope."

"Didn't think so. What about the guys?"

"I've told them that your father has enlisted me to make you for feminine. I also told them that should they have a problem with that they can bring it up with Ranka. For some reason I don't think Tamaki will be interrupting us tonight." Amaya opened her bedroom door with one hand. She stepped inside and released Haruhi who looked around the room in surprise.

It was large, as it was bound to be, and rather non-descript. There was a large king-side bed with flat screen T.V on the wall across from it. There was a small table with a couch and glass doors that led onto a balcony. Haruhi risked a glance out the windows and wished she hadn't. The angry black clouds swirling in the sky _screamed_ thunder and lightning.

"I figured we could watch a movie and eat bad quality food. Well, as bad quality as you can get in a place like this..." Amaya said cheerily, nonchalantly closing the curtains, blocking out the view. She then pranced to the, far-too–large-to-be-called-a-mini-fridge, fridge. Haruhi wondered if perhaps this was just a way of distracting her from tonight's oncoming storm.

Her suspicions were forgotten however when Amaya pulled out a platter of seafood in one hand and an assortment of cakes and sweets in the other. Haruhi could practically feel her stomach yearning for the food.

"I'm guessing by the look on your face I've found your weakness." Amaya winked, placing the food on the bed.

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Just put on the stupid movie." She muttered trying to fight the smile on her face. She moved to the bed and flopped down on it heavily.

She sighed as she sank into the comfortable mattress, seriously what do rich people make their beds out of, whatever it is it's amazing. She reached over to the platter of food and popped a piece of tuna in her mouth. She moaned a little too enthusiastically. Forget the mattress _this_ was perfection.

Haruhi sat up contently when something came flying through the air and hit her in the face.

"AH! What is this?" She asked as it landed in her lap. She held up before recognising it.

"How did you get my bag?"

Amaya just wiggled her eyebrows at her. She ran up to the bed and leaped up beside Haruhi, barely missing the food.

"Get changed." Amaya said, nibbling on something expensive.

"Changed?" Haruhi asked.

"Darling we're having a girl's night in. Which means put on your comfiest clothes and get under the covers." Amaya smirked taking some of her own clothes out of her bag.

"Right... girls night." Haruhi said quietly.

Amaya cocked her head. "You have had one before right?"

"Well..em...No, not really." Haruhi admitted self consciously.

Amaya's eyes widened. "This shall not stand! Get ready Haruhi because tonight we are pulling out all the stops. Hair, make over, nails, clothes, gorging ourselves on food, the works." Amaya grinned and started yanking things out of her bag.

"Oh, no that's okay Amaya, I don't want you to go through so much trouble."

"The fact that you think this is up to you is so adorable." Amaya called over her shoulder.

.

.

Amaya rubbed her eyes with the heal of her palm. The movie was over and the clock told her that it had just gone midnight. She yawned and turned to ask Haruhi what she thought of the film. Unfortunately it seemed being a host was a very tiring occupation as her friend was slumbering peacefully on the bed beside her.

Amaya smirked. Slowly, so as not to wake her, she moved to the window to check the weather. One glance told her that she had been right about her suspicions. Lighting forked across the sky, without the movie to block it out the thunder could clearly be heard booming in the sky.

Amaya chewed her lip slightly. There was no way she could risk Haruhi waking up in the middle of this. She'd freak out. She could go to sleep beside her but she'd be afraid that she'd wake her up during the night, Amaya had a habit of talking in her sleep when she dreamed. Something that really irritated Hitomi when they shared a room in middle school.

Why don't I just sleep in her room? It's not like anyone is going to be using it, She thought to herself.

She scooped up her pajamas and her toothbrush and left her room, but not before pulling the covers up over Haruhi and switching off the light.

.

.

Tamaki froze as another loud boom of thunder echoed through the room where him and Kyoya were watching TV. Well, Tamaki was watching TV, Kyoya was on his laptop, potentially constructing plans to take over the world.

"That storm is getting worse." Kyoya noted, not looking up from his typing.

"Yeah it is...Kyoya do you think you can hear that in every room?" Tamaki asked slowly.

Kyoya smirked. "Worried about Haruhi?"

Tamaki laughed self consciously. "Maybe I should go check on her...see if she's alright." He rose to leave.

"If you want. But check her room first, if she's not there then she's still with Amaya who will not appreciate nor need the intrusion." Kyoya warned.

Tamaki nodded and, once he was out of his best friend's sight, practically sprinted up the stairs. He paused outside Haruhi's door and ran a hand through his bangs. Standing a little straighter he opened it and looked inside. It was dark and he could see a definite lump in the bed.

She's asleep, Tamaki realised.

He glanced around the room and saw that the curtains hadn't even been closed. She must have been really tired when she came in not to notice the weather outside. Either that or Amaya knocked her out and carried her in.

Tamaki froze, Amaya wouldn't actually do that, right?

Maybe I should stay just in case she wakes up in the middle of the storm.

He yawned sleepily, and gently sat down on the bed.

Just for a few minutes.

.

.

Amaya awoke sleepily. Her blonde hair tickled her nose and she tucked it back behind her ear. She rubbed her eyes and felt hair still at her face. Confused, she opened her lids slowly to see a lot of golden fibres in front of her.

But... I brushed my hair back...How is it still in front of me...And why is my bed so warm...

Something went click in the back of her mind and she barely contained her gasp as she quickly sat up.

Tamaki-Senpai is in my bed. No, wait this isn't my bed, it's Haruhi's. Amaya felt some relief, It's fine he thought I was Haruhi...no, that's _still _not okay...

She pinched the bridge of her nose and told herself that chances were this was all some sort of misunderstanding and she should therefore not brutally kick him out of bed.

I could wake him gently...No, it's too early in the morning for whining. Especially after he realizes that I wear summer pyjamas all year round...

Well I can't stay here, damn why did I have to wake up next to this host, anyone would be better than...

A smile broke across her face, her watch told her that it was seven in the morning, she imagined that everyone else was asleep. Takashi was the only who woke up this early and he would be waiting for Mitskuni to arise from his demonic slumber.

I think I might pay a certain someone a visit.

.

.

Kyoya groaned angrily when he heard his door open. Couldn't that bloody idiot bother him at a more reasonable hour?

"Tamaki, I am not in the mood." He mumbled into his pillow. He heard the door close and sighed hoping the other boy had left.

"Really? Not even a little?" A distinctly feminine voice whispered in his ear. Warm breath tickled his neck and he felt the bed dip slightly as Amaya lowered herself onto it.

Kyoya smirked, "You're definition of behaving ourselves leaves an awful lot of lee way."

She grinned mischievously and put her hands on the bed either side of his chest. "In my defence I seem to have misplaced a bed."

"Oh, and how did you manage that?" He tilted his head and kissed her gently.

"Haruhi stole mine and hers is currently out of service." Amaya answered in between kisses. Kyoya's hand moved to cup her face and the other slid onto her waist. She straddled him and their embrace became more intense. She started to unbutton his silk top. Silk to bed, how Ootori, she thought amused. She finished opening it and her hands started to caress the lean muscles of his chest and stomach. She could feel his own fingers slowly move under her tank top.

"Kyoya help! I fell asleep in Haruhi's bed and now she's- Kyoya?"

The two snapped their heads up to see a blushing Tamaki in the doorway. Amaya considered their position. Her straddling Ootori, her hands on his bare chest, his hands on her back under her top...Sure he could have seen worse, but...

The three stared at one another for a long time in silence. Kyoya began to wonder if Tamaki had gone into shock.

Amaya cleared her throat.

"Well...this is awkward."


	20. Spin the Bottle

_**A/N Tadah! Two chapters in a week, Looks like I'm getting back into the swing of thing : ) Hopefully I'll have chapter 21 up soon but in the meantime read, enjoy and if you have time please review! **_

_**Also MarinaStryke I've working on the one shot you suggested. Hope to finish it soon it's working out kind of long. **_

_**.**_

_**.**_

"Well, this is awkward."

Amaya's words seemed to snap Tamaki out of his trance.

"What are you doing to Mommy?!" He screeched.

Amaya looked at Kyoya pointedly "I told you he'd react like this." She smirked and rolled off Kyoya to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Tamaki try not to shout, you'll wake the entire house." Kyoya sighed, buttoning his shirt again. Amaya felt Kyoya get up off the bed. He walked over to the door and closed it.

"But, I, you guys were..." Tamaki spluttered. He looked completely lost and Amaya almost felt sorry for the poor blonde. His naivety was sweet in a strange way.

Suddenly the host club's king's face brightened.

Uh oh, Amaya thought, Scratch the sweet thing.

Tamaki twirled and started speaking so fast she could barely keep up with him.

"Oh I get it! You two are secretly in love! You probably fell in love at first sight but were both too afraid to say anything. Until Amaya got attacked and Kyoya realised that he couldn't live without her and that's why he walked you home so he could passionately admit his feelings. You kissed, but were afraid. What would the others think? What would Mori think? Would your families allow you to be together? So you hid your deep emotions and Kyoya arranged for you to stay as bodyguard so you could still be near each other even if your love could never truly be expressed. And now, last night in the storm, Amaya got frightened and ran to _you_ Kyoya. You were so moved by her weak side, which she never ever shows anyone but you, that you let her sleep in your bed while you stayed on the couch! And this morning Amaya told you just how much she loves the soft side of you that only she can see! Oh you guys, it's all so_ romantic_!" Tamaki stooped twirling and held his hands to his face, a dreamy look on it.

Kyoya and Amaya looked at each other.

"Emmmm..." Amaya said, not entirely sure how to respond to that onslaught of cheesy romanticism.

Kyoya lifted up his glasses and perched them on his nose.

"Stop being an idiot Tamaki. Amaya and I are _not_ in love."

Tamaki dropped his happy expression.

"You're not?"

"Nope." Amaya said.

"But then why were you two...?"

Kyoya stared blankly at him over the rim of his glasses.

"Oh...So are you two dating then?" Tamaki asked, his voice pleading for something relationship like coming out of this.

"No. We're not." Amaya said stiffly.

"So...you're just kissing right?"

Amaya closed her eyes and heaved a sigh.

"Perhaps it would be best if we didn't divulge all the details of are engagement to you." Kyoya answered an amused tremor to his voice.

"_Engagement_? You two are getting married?!" Tamaki squealed.

"UH!" Amaya flopped backwards on to the bed.

This is going to take a while to explain.

.

.

After telling him far more detail than they really wanted to Tamaki left the room. Kyoya sighed slightly and turned back to Amaya. She was lying on the bed with a thoughtful expression on her face. She sat up abruptly.

"Do you think he'll tell anyone?" She asked.

Kyoya shook his head. "No, he promised he wouldn't. Tamaki places a lot in honour and chivalry. He'll keep his silence."

Amaya nodded but didn't look convinced. He had, after all, promised he wouldn't tell Honey about the first time they met. She may not have confronted him about it but she knew that he had spilled the beans to her cousin.

Kyoya crouched down in front of her and gave her a kiss. "Don't worry. Our situation isn't going to be dragged into the light just yet."

She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. "Situation. Now why couldn't you have used that word earlier? I thought his head was going to explode when he heard you say engagement"

KYoya rolled his eyes. "His dramatics are matched only by his assumptions. The fact that we had no intention of ever being a couple seemed to upset his more than it should have."

"I suppose he's disappointed in his wife. Sleeping around like that." She grinned at him.

Kyoya's brow furrowed. "I am _not_ his wife." He kissed her fiercely. After a moment she pulled away.

"It seems we've lost the morning. I should go before someone _else_ walks in on us." She stroked his cheek.

"Very well. The guest are to arrive at noon. Make sure you're ready by then." He stood to let her pass, his voice business like again.

Amaya smirked and pecked him on the cheek. "Yes, Mr Ootori." She mumbled into his ear.

.

.

Tamaki leaned his head on his open palm and tried to make sense of what he had just witnessed.

Amaya and Kyoya are sleeping together...But they don't love each other...Nor are they dating...Or getting married...

A quite knock on the door made him jump and he turned to see Amaya in the door frame. His cheeks pinked as he remembered what he had seen her doing not so long ago.

"Can we talk?" She asked lightly, but her eyes had a coldness to them.

"I, eh, Yes of course." Tamaki responded nervously. He ran a hand through his hair as Amaya sat down in the chair across from him.

"I'm just going to get to the point. I don't want you to tell anyone about me and Ootori." She crossed her legs and her face had taken on an authoritative expression.

Tamaki frowned. "I already promised I wouldn't."

Amaya smiled sweetly, showing more teeth than necessary. "I think we both know that doesn't guarantee anything."

Tamaki's eyes widened in shock. She knew he told Honey, but how? Honey hasn't said anything to her about it and he certainly didn't.

Amaya chuckled. "Relax senpai, I'm not mad. I know you told Honey for my benefit. And it worked, he's been a lot nicer and less awkward around me because of that. Which, if you are wondering, is how I figured out you told him. That and Honey wouldn't forgive me so easily for Usa-chan, even if he did think I was trying to fix him."

Tamaki shifted uncomfortably. "Okay, well I'm glad you're not mad. And I promise that no matter what happens I won't tell anyone about you and Kyoya."

Amaya smiled and rose from her chair, seemingly satisfied.

"Thank you, Tamaki."

Tamaki smile was a little lob-sided but genuine as he turned away from the girl to look out his window. That could have gone worse, he thought.

"Oh and Tamaki? You should remember that if you are ever tempted to break this promise, I see a lot more than most people. That includes how certain people may feel towards other certain people." Amaya's voice was sweet but laced with warning. He heard the door close and she was gone.

.

.

"So what are we going to do now?" Haruhi asked as she looked out the window. The guests had arrived and had been greeted. Now the problem was what to do with them.

"I dunno, board games maybe?" Amaya suggested.

"Nice going on picking the weekend with a freaking monsoon going on boss!" Hikaru chastised.

"Yeah, ever here of a thing called the forecast."Kaoru added.

"The weather is not my fault!" Tamaki complained.

"No, but the timing is." Kyoya put in.

Tamaki sniffled and ran to a corner. Haruhi sighed and walked over to him to bring him back to the world of the emotionally balanced.

Amaya had to agree with the twins and Kyoya though. Outside the skies were grey as torrents of rain flooded the ground. The waves, which had been peaceful yesterday, were now plunging viciously against the shore as the howling wind whipped them into a frenzy. The only good news was that the thunder and lightning had stopped and the roads were still accessible.

"Why don't we all sit down and have some cake?!" Honey suggested happily. That makes a change from this morning when Honey told everyone that this entire trip was a stupid idea and that Tamaki was a complete idiot. Both of which were true but still...

"For a whole day?" Hikaru asked sceptically.

"Why not?" Honey said surprised.

"Thankfully I did have the foresight to check the weather and have taken the liberty to draw up a schedule for indoor activities. I also chose this house for its large number of resources for us to draw from." Kyoya interrupted flicking to a particular page in his black notebook.

He cleared his throat.

"12:00-12:30, Guest's arrival and greeting.

12:30-1:30, Tea with Hosts.

1:30-2:30, Usual Host activities.

2:30-4:00, Movie in private cinema.

4:00-5:00, Swimming in heated pool..."

When Kyoya continued on until 7:30, guests depart, and snapped his book closed, a satisfied smirk on his face.

Haruhi, Amaya and the twins stared at him blankly.

"Is there something wrong?" Kyoya asked.

"Are you sure you didn't do time in the army?" The twins asked.

Kyoya rolled his eyes. "I hardly think organisation is a trait exclusive to soldiers. Now you should all go to the lounge. Our guests await their tea."

.

.

"Hey Amaya come over here for a second." Kaoru called.

Amaya checked her watch. 1:45, time for the twins to annoy the girl with the knives.

"Do you need something?" She asked kindly, mostly for the sake of the two guest the doppelgangers and Haruhi were entertaining.

"We were wondering if you wanted to play with us." They asked sweetly. Haruhi sent her friend a warning look causing Amaya's brows to knit together.

"What's the game?"

The two looked at each other and Hikaru pulled something out from behind him.

"Spin the bottle." The guests squealed.

Amaya cocked her hip and folded her arms. "No way."

"Oh come on! We need another girl to even the numbers!" Kaoru argued.

Amaya tilted her head. "No you don't you already have," She caught herself, remembering that Haruhi was a boy to their guests.

"Oh wait you only have two girls." She corrected awkwardly. The twins grinned at her near miss and sent her a look that seemed to say, We've got you now.

"Exactly. Come on Amaya, don't you have to make sure we don't _misbehave_."

"You'd never do anything to the guests." Amaya snorted.

"True. But _Haruhi_ is fair game." Hikaru said grabbing the cross dresser around the waist and pulling her to him.

"Uh! Fine. Move over you little devils." Amaya said pushing Hikaru and Haruhi apart and placing herself firmly in between them.

"Oh and only on the cheek." She added.

"Aw! You're no fun!" The twins complained.

.

.

"Okay Haruhi spin it!" Hikaru said eagerly. Haruhi complied, she had just received her kiss from one of the girls, and the bottle span quickly.

It began to slow and Amaya could feel anticipation radiating off the twins as if moved in their direction. Unfortunately for them Lady Luck didn't feel like being kind and when it stopped if pointed at Amaya.

"You're it Amaya-chan!" One of the guest squeaked excitedly.

Haruhi smiled and pecked her friend on her cheek. Amaya fake swooned and ignored the jealous looks off the twins.

"My turn." Amaya reached for the glass bottle and flicked it sharply. It spun rapidly before slowly down again. For a moment Amaya thought it was going to land on her, what would she do then? Kiss her hand or something?

She'd never know as it stopped just short of her, landing on the red headed devil on her right.

Hikaru, _fabulous_.

He grinned at her mischievously and stuck his cheek out to her. Amaya scoffed but leaned in to kiss the imp.

Her lips had barely touched his cheek when a voice broke them up.

"I'm afraid I have to borrow Amaya for a moment. Honey wishes to speak to her." The shadow king's voice interrupted and his hand clamped down on Amaya's shoulder pulling her away from the circle.

Kaoru held his breath at the furious look in Kyoya's eyes. Oh, he was attempting to hide it all right, but the fact was he was pissed.

Looks like I was right about those two after all, Kaoru thought.

"I'll see you guys later." Amaya said chirpily.

"What does Honey want me for?" Amaya asked Kyoya as he led her away.

"I don't know. Perhaps you should ask him. He's in there." He gestured to a room and then quickly left her in the corridor.

What was that about? Amaya thought. Jealousy? No, that seems unlikely.

She shrugged her shoulders and walked into the room where she saw Honey and Takashi waiting for her.

"What's up?" Amaya asked.

"Mitskuni got a phone call. We're going home." Takashi answered in that not-giving-enough-information way of his.

"Okay. Should I be worried?" Amaya said nervously.

"I don't think so. Father just said he wants us to all go to your house to talk about something important. He said we should be back before night time." Honey said filling in his cousins gaps.

"Alright. Let me just grab a few things and then I'll be ready to go." Amaya said.

This is weird, she thought as she walked to her room, but if we're going to be back before dark then it can't be too big a deal right?

Right?


	21. Her Decision

_**Warning, much emotion coming up.**_

Amaya rolled her neck in a circle as she worked the kinks out of it. The hour drive to her families estate made her feel a little stiff. Although, in hindsight, leaning on Takashi's shoulder for the entire journey may have contributed to that.

The trio climbed out of the sleek black car that her parents had sent and looked around the modest but huge area. They began walking to the two large wooden doors that marked the entrance to her traditional Japanese style home.

Out of the corner of her eye Amaya spotted a brown blur flying through the air directly towards them. She spun rapidly on her heel as she saw the form near Honey. Reflexively she prepared to attack when she realised exactly who the assailant was.

"Chicka!" She cried happily, leaping at her younger cousin with open arms, tackling him out of the air.

"Hey, let go! I have to fight Mitsukuni." He complained, trying to claw his way out of her arms to get at his brother.

"Nope, not a chance." She said brightly. Honey smiled and attack-hugged the two.

"Hi Chicka-chan! Did dad call you too?" He giggled, his legs wrapped around his brother's back.

"Yes. Now release me, we're supposed to be fighting!" Chicka squirmed.

"But this is so much more fun. I like hugging better. What about you squirt, do you like hugging better?"Amaya smirked.

"Uh huh. Hey Takashi, do you want to hug too?" Honey asked chirpily.

"No."

"Aw, come one Takashi! Feel the forcibly given love!" Amaya said rubbing her face against Chicka's reluctant one.

Takashi started to move towards the entrance but froze as raised voices came to their ears. People were shouting behind the front doors. And they were angry.

Suddenly the wooden doors burst open and a large figure came crashing to the ground. A woman came into the door frame, her blonde hair hanging wildly around her face and her brown eyes flashing with unhinged fury.

"How dare you?!" She spat at the man she had just sent tumbling down the drive. Amaya recognised her Uncle Yorihisa immediately as he slowly dusted himself off.

"This concerns the Haninozuka-" He said tightly.

"I don't give a damn about your bloody Haninozukas! This is my family's business not yours. How dare you summon my children!"

"I am your family too." Yorihisa protested.

"You weren't two years ago when that bastard died!" Amaya's mother spat.

"He was our father, show some respect!"

"He never showed respect in his life! And you're not much better. I'm warning you Yorihisa, take your sons and leave. For god sake I wasn't even going to involve Takashi in this! This is Amaya's life we are discussing, not yours!"

Yorihisa fumed. "I'll allow you some time to talk this over, sister. But even you can't deny that what effects one of our families effects the other. Mitsukuni, Yasuchicka, come. Let's leave the Morinozukas to their discussions." He stormed down the path. Chicka and Honey looked at one another and then at their cousins before following him.

Amaya and Takashi stared at their mother in shock. They had never seen such an outburst from her before. Their father may be the quieter one of the two but it was their mother who could mask and control her emotions so well.

"Amaya your father is in the study, he wants to speak with you. Taka-kun, why don't you get something to eat while we discuss this with your sister."She turned back into house.

Takashi nodded and the siblings followed, both of them wondering what exactly this was and how it affected Amaya's life so much.

.

.

When Amaya reached the study door she sent a backward glance to her brother. He nodded encouragingly to her before walking onto the dining room. Her mother was at her side and she opened the door.

"After you." She said politely. That worried Amaya, sure they hadn't been never been particularly close, especially after the last two years, but they had at least been comfortable with each other. Right now she felt like a client, or an employee about to be fired.

Amaya squared her shoulders and fixed a bored expression on her face. She wasn't going to let down her guard until she knew what this was about, even if it was her parents she was talking to.

Her father was sitting behind his polished antique desk. Her mother walked behind him and rested her hands on the top of the chair. Her fingers pinched the leather tightly.

"Hello Ama-chan. How are you?"Her dad's impressive frame rose from his chair and walked over to him. She felt herself engulfed in a hug. Takashi may be tall but he was yet to outgrow their father. His dark eyes, the same as his sons, lightened at the sight of her but she could still sense unease behind them.

"I'm fine dad. Mostly wondering what this is all about." She detangled herself from his arms and sat down in the seat across from her father's.

Her parents shared a look. She didn't like that. Her mind started whirring a mile a minute. She hadn't done anything wrong had she? Maybe they found out about the attacks on the guests? Or the host club? Or...

She paused, this couldn't be about Ootori could it?

Her father cleared his throat and she tensed with anticipation.

"Amaya, do you know about the Otazin technology company?"

The question surprised her hugely.

"Em, yeah, I suppose." She said dazed before mentally shaking herself. "I mean yes. I have."

"How much do you know about them?" Her father said pressing her on.

Amaya frowned. "Well as far as I can tell they are a relatively new company but massively successful. Their founder is some sort of genius who has been developing newer and faster computer programs, games, phone apps, memory cards...Basically anything in that whole area."

Her father swallowed, he folded his hands together and put his two index fingers to his lips.

"And how much do you know of its CAO?"

Her mother's knuckles went white as her grip tightened for a split second. It was the kind of movement only someone who grew up in Amaya's house would notice.

"Not a whole lot." Amaya said carefully.

"Well to summarize. He is young, started making up these computer programs on an archaic machine when he was fourteen. At fifteen his mother's boss took a notice of his capabilities and funded his experiments. Within a year they went into business together. Four years later and they have taken over a large percentage of the Japanese market and have achieved multi-million status. They are making a move on the American and European market next year."

"Alright. I don't see how light industry such as that has any impact on us. We are a protective services and training company." Amaya said confused.

"Amaya, this isn't exactly a discussion on business." Her mother said running a hand through her blonde hair.

"Well then what is it?" Amaya snapped, a little frustrated.

"The CAO, Otazin Kiyoshi, has asked for your hand in marriage." Her father siad finally.

Amaya felt as though the world had gone still.

Marriage? But I'm only sixteen? Sure, I know arranged marriages aren't that unusual in families such as mine but...She shook her head.

"So you brought me here to tell me that you're selling me to some hot shot computer hacker?" Her voice was harsh as she slowly rose from her chair.

"No darling, that's exactly what we haven't done." Her mother reached for her but she recoiled.

"This is entirely your decision. But we thought that in this case we should permit you to make it." Her father reasoned.

"What do you mean in _this_ case."

Her father smirked a little. "Amaya you are a beautiful, intelligent, young woman from a very well established family. Surely you don't believe that we haven't been approached with people hoping to make you their daughter in law before?"

"We always declined because we either felt you were too young or the people asking were too arrogant or obnoxious or they asked when you were... gone." Her mother stated, her voice getting awkward near the end.

"So why now? I'm sixteen I'd hardly say that I'm old enough to be getting _married_!" Amaya argued.

"Don't worry about that. He made it very clear that he had no intention of marrying you until you are at the very least out of High school, preferably out of college."

"Oh well _that_ makes it okay then." Amaya said sarcastically. She wasn't usually this rude with her parents but she felt betrayed. Like they had gotten used to not having her around and were now trying to pawn her off again.

"Amaya, listen. This man is young. He is intelligent. His mother was a maid so he's not obnoxious and is capable of living without butlers and other servants. So when he came and very politely requested that we consider him as a prospective husband for you we thought that we should allow you to know about it. However, that being said, if you choose to decline we will not be disappointed. We will not be hurt. You have given enough to this family these past two years. You shouldn't have had to do what you did. So if you decide that this is a part of your life that you want us to have nothing to do with, we will have nothing to do with it." Her mother finished, her eyes looking into their mirror image in her daughters'.

Amaya felt a part of her relax. She had a choice but...

"Can I go for a walk?"

Her mother smiled. "Of course love. If you see Takashi send him in. We have another matter to speak to him about."

She nodded numbly and shut the door behind her. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Is everything alright?" Takashi said.

"AH!" Amaya jumped. She must be distracted for someone to be able to sneak up on her like that. Even if they were a Morinozuka.

Takashi frowned at her. She waved off his surprise at her reaction.

"Mam wants to talk to you. She didn't say what about."

He nodded and walked into the room knowing he wasn't going to get any information out of his sister.

Amaya sighed and shoved open the front doors, hoping to clear her head.

It made sense for her to consider it. It was a good offer. Of course she'd have to meet him before she made a decision. And run a background check.

But what about Ootori?

Amaya felt like growling at that thought. _What about Ootori?_ It's not like they were dating or anything, or in love...

So why was the idea of stopping their relationship so unwanted?

"-that girl is highly unlikely to make the correct decision. She's only a child! How can she be expected to do what's right for this family?!" Her uncle's angry voice interrupted her thoughts. The voice came from inside one of the training rooms that stood apart from the main house.

"Amaya isn't stupid, she'll do what's right. Even if that's not what you want." Honey's voice said irritated. Amaya paused, listening intently now. Her cousin was defending her to her uncle. She felt a pang of guilt. Would she have shown him the same loyalty?

"What I want is the right thing for this family. Her marriage would be of huge benefit both the Haninozuka and the Morinozuka companies. She needs to be selfless and under her mother's influence she won't be."

"Amaya has already done what's right for this family!" Chicka protested.

"I'm tired of this conversation. I'm going to find my sister and discuss this matter further."

Amaya heard the sound of a door opening and quickly hid out of view. She watched her Uncle's retreating form cautiously.

He's _so_ going to get his ass kicked again, She thought.

.

.

Honey walked out of the training room and dusted himself off. After their father left Chicka demanded the fight that he had been refused earlier. Now his younger brother was lying on the floor in pain.

"Allo Squirt." He looked over to see Amaya leaning against the wall.

"Hi Amaya. Are you ready to go back to the beach? Where's Takashi?"

"He's still talking to our Mam. Not sure what about. Can I talk to you for a second?" She started walking to one of the benches that lined the drive into her house.

"Em okay is something wrong?"He asked, following her.

"Not really. I just wanted to talk."She sat down, her eyes straight ahead as she spoke.

"Do you know why I didn't like you for so long?" She asked simply.

The question practically winded him.

"I, I thought it was because I'm a Haninozuka."He muttered.

"So is Chicka but I've never had a problem with him."

"So what is it then?" Honey demanded. He had often wondered about this himself.

"I don't know if you remember but around the time you were eleven you and Chicka got really sick with the flu. Takashi and I came to help out but really we were just making sure you two didn't go crazy being kept inside all day." She smiled fondly before continuing.

"We brought you both food and I used to read to Chicka. Takashi would play video games or cards with you. It was kind of fun in a weird way."

She paused and Honey could see her jaw set with anger.

"The thing is though if you hang out with people with the flu for that long there's a good chance you're going to catch something. And Takashi did. He got so weak, but _grandfather_" She spat the word, "Made it clear that we should keep looking after you and Chicka. So we did. And Takashi got worse."

Honey's eyes widened. He remembered the time Amaya was talking about but he had no recollection of Takashi being ill.

"Then one day, I heard shouting coming from your room. I ran in and saw Takashi with hot soup all over him and your bed. From what I gathered from you screaming at him, he dropped it while he was bringing it to you. His arms were too weak ,you see, to carry the tray for so long. You started calling him an idiot and in that moment I couldn't see any difference between you and grandfather." Amaya's voice was cold and furious. Honey felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He didn't even remember that.

"After that moment it was pretty easy to view the way you treated him as the same way grandfather saw us. It was easy to dislike you so much." Honey's looked down at the ground in shame.

"But then I started hanging out in the Host Club. And suddenly I started seeing the truth about your relationship. That he needed you just as much as you needed him." Her voice was lighter now.

"So, I guess my point is...I'm sorry squirt. I misjudged you." Honey looked up to see Amaya smiling at him meekly. His eyes welled up and he hugged her tightly around the waist.

"I'm sorry for being mean to Takashi!"He wailed into her stomach. She smirked and ruffled his hair. Her older cousin was such a little kid sometimes.

.

.

Mori didn't exactly know what was going on when he came upon Amaya and Honey hugging. He tilted his head to the side.

"What are you two doing?"

The pair broke apart and looked up at him with grins. It was kind of eerie.

"Just showing some cousinly affection. You ready to go back to the beach?" Amaya answered rising up from her seat.

"Yeah."

"Well then let's go. Can't keep you boys away from your devoted guests forever now can we?"

.

.

Amaya stared out over the sea from her balcony. Her chin was resting on her knees and her arms were looped around her folded legs. The rain had finally stopped. The sun was setting behind her and she watched the sky darken into night.

Her mind was rampant with thoughts about the proposal. Logically she had to consider it. He was a young, intelligent man. Her parents had approved him and they were excellent judges of character.

But how do I tell Kyoya, she thought sadly.

Will he be upset? No, don't be silly, she chastised herself, he'll be alright with it. He's a handsome boy, I'm sure he'll find someone else willing to share his bed.

So when do I tell him? She sighed, she should let him know next time she saw him.

"Did you have a good time at your parents?" She froze temporarily before recovering. That was the second time today someone had snuck up on her. She was losing her edge.

"It was fine." She replied curtly.

There was no further questions and she thought that he may have decided to leave.

Instead she heard him sit down on the ground. His arms snaked around her waist and his legs spread out so one was on either side of her, his knees pointing into the air like her own.

He pulled her in closer to him and rested his head on her shoulder. She sighed, happily accepting his warmth.

Kyoya kissed her neck softly and she bit her lip.

Perhaps she wouldn't tell him just yet.

.

.

_**Well that is easily the longest chapter I've ever written. I hope you enjoyed it and didn't find it too long or tedious. **_

_**Please review and tell me what you think. How do you feel about the whole proposal thing? And How do you think Kyoya is going to react?**_

_**Oh and by the way a different Ootori is going to be making an appearance very shortly.**_

_**Thank you for reading, **_

_**IvyNO. **_


	22. Unexpected

Thud.

_I have to tell him._

Thud.

_It's not like it's that big a deal anyway._

Thud.

_He won't care._

Thud.

_And neither do I._

Bang!

Amaya stepped back from the swaying punching bag, panting. It had been two days since she had spoken to her parents. Two days since she had learned of Otazin's proposal. Two days since she had driven herself crazy as logic waged war with incomprehensible feelings.

I'm scared. She realised with a shock. I'm scared of the thought of marriage, of binding myself to another like that, even if it is for business and not love.

Business and _not_ love, that idea was appealing to her, she was not the most affectionate person and had little patience for romance.

But that merely drew her attention back to the other issue that confused her. The Otazin Company would not benefit hugely by the marriage. Sure, the Morinozuka's were a well respected family with a fierce reputation but other than security, this Kiyoshi Otazin had no reason to try and tie their families.

She spun on her heal and kicked the punching bag causing it fly off its hook to the ground.

She _hated_ rich people politics.

.

.

"Em...Amaya? Are you okay?" Haruhi asked.

Amaya jolted. She didn't know how long she had been staring out the window in a daze for. Clearly long enough for Haruhi to notice.

"Sorry, Haru-chan. I haven't been sleeping well." Not a lie. Amaya told herself. She never slept well.

"We can take a break if you'd like?" Haruhi offered. They were at Haruhi's apartment, making up for the weekend at the beach. Amaya wasn't too concerned about her grades but Haruhi needed to maintain a certain standard so she had suggested that they catch up together. Although in her current frame of mind Amaya wasn't the most helpful person in the world.

"No its okay. What time will your dad be back? Do you need to make dinner for him?" Amaya asked, stretching her arms.

"He should be back in about an hour, but we're having leftovers today. Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Amaya smiled and shook her head. "Thanks for the offer but I have to go home and feed the cats. They're still a little annoyed over my disappearance these past few days."

"They're cats, Amaya, how mad could they be? Besides didn't you have to leave them behind when you went to boarding school?"

"We were allowed to keep pets in our rooms provided no one in your room was allergic. I think the school was afraid that we'd go crying to our rich, influential parents. Even so I couldn't exactly leave Soleil at my parent's home. He just showed up at my apartment window in my first summer away. He basically adopted me. Trust me, Luna was not too happy about that at first."

Haruhi smirked. "Sometimes I wish I had a pet. But we don't exactly have the room here."

"Well you're welcome to cat sit for me whenever you want." Amaya said.

"Thanks. But babysitting the host club is enough for now."

Amaya chuckled. "Come one. We had better get this finished. I think the twins heads will explode if they see us studying in music room again."

.

.

"Ha-RU-hi! I'm home!" Ranka's voice exploded through the quite room.

"Hey dad."

"Hello Ranka, how was work?" Amaya said politely.

"Ama-chan! How are you darling? Those boys aren't giving you too much trouble, are they?"

"Nothing I can't handle. Or Haruhi, for that matter. I saw what you meant about her being absolutely adorable, by the way." Amaya said, speaking as though she was communing some secret information. Haruhi narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

Ranka squealed but quickly disguised it as a cough. "Good girl. Are you going to stay for dinner Amaya?"

"No, in fact, I think I had better be going." Amaya stood and started gathering her things into her bag.

"Is there something going on between you two?" Haruhi asked slowly.

Ranka went red and started gesturing frantically. "No of course not! What would ever, ever, ever give you that idea?! Oh Haru-chan you're so silly!"

Amaya sighed. Her accomplice wasn't the best liar. "Anyway, I'll see you at school. Bye Haruhi!" Amaya went to leave but as she passed them she stumbled, Ranka catching her.

"Woops!"

"Are you alright Amaya?"

"Yes, sorry about that. I must have tripped." Her and Ranka shared a look and then she departed.

Haruhi groaned and buried her head in her hands.

"Something wrong Haruhi?"

"What did she give you?"

"Hmmm? I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Amaya can perform back flips off whilst dodging a punch and throwing a well aimed knife. She doesn't trip. Also your acting skills are awful."

Ranka's face crumpled. "Aw, I thought I was doing so well!"

"What did she give you?"

"Now don't be mad. I asked her to do this for me."

"What did she give you?" Haruhi hissed, attempting to grab it out of his hands. He held it high in the air out of reach.

"I just wanted to see you all cute and dressed up!"

"What is it?!" Haruhi's eyes widened as she recognised the shape.

"Is that a camera?"

"...Maybe."

"Give it to me!"

"Never" He shouted, sprinting away.

"Dad!" Haruhi complained running after him. She could guess what pictures were on that. The ones from the night of the storm.

"I will guard these photos with my life!" He protested dramatically, from across the table.

I am going to kill Amaya, Haruhi thought menacingly.

.

.

"What's up with you? You've been really quiet since we got back from the beach." Hikaru asked his brother concernedly.

Kaoru jerked from where he had rested his head on his arms. "Sorry. I've just been thinking about something. Do you think that something may be going on between Kyoya and Amaya?"

"What do you mean?" HIkaru said, leaning his head on his twins shoulder.

"Do you think they are...more than friends?"

Hikaru paused and pursed his lips. "Maybe. I don't see what that has to do with us though."

Kaoru bit back a sigh. You would think like that.

Hikaru brightened. "Do you want to find out for sure?"

Kaoru grinned but faltered. "But then we'd have to deal with Kyoya and Mori."

Hikaru thought about that. "Yeah... how about we play a different game?"

"Okay, what do you want to do?"

"Well, it just so happens a certain someone has gotten a love letter." Hikaru smiled devilishly. He whipped out a sheet of paper and began to read.

"_Dear Kaoru..." _

.

.

Yuuki fidgeted nervously. She couldn't believe her luck. She couldn't believe he had replied.

She had felt like an idiot when she had sent that letter, she had done it in a moment of madness at the push of her friend Emikio. She didn't think that Kaoru would even knew who she was, let alone show _interest_ in her.

She fixed her already perfectly positioned skirt. Oh god, why did this stupid uniform have to be so ugly! At least her hair was nice. Wasn't it? She had put it in braids...what if she looked really young? Oh god, what if her hair was sticking up everywhere!

Part of her wished Hazuki was here. Her sister would keep her calm. But then she'd also be incredibly annoyed that she had sent a letter to a boy in the first place. Especially if it kept them late.

She glanced at her watch. As long as she was back in twenty minutes nothing bad will happen.

She took in a deep breath to calm herself.

.

Kaoru looked at the girl who sent him his letter. She seemed young enough, however, according to Hikaru, she was in the year ahead of them. She obviously was nervous, although Kaoru didn't entirely see why. She was stunning. Her light green eyes were huge and bright. Her black hair shone when the light hit it. At around five foot four she was taller than Haruhi. Shorter than Amaya though. Softer too.

If he wasn't about to prove how vain she undoubtedly was he would almost wish he could give her a chance.

"Ready?" Hikaru asked from behind him.

Kaoru nodded. He gave his brother a grin. "Let the games begin." He walked out to greet the letter girl.

.

"Miss Sutobi?" The sudden voice made her jump. She turned to see a gorgeous, red headed boy, looking at her with a friendly smile.

"Kaoru-san!" She said excited before catching herself and putting on a firmer face.

The boy winced and looked at her apologetically.

"Sorry, no I'm Hikaru." He said with a shrug.

_No you're not_, a voice in the back of mind protested. She shook that off. Why would he have any reason to lie to her? If he said he Hikaru then he was Hikaru.

"Sorry, it's just you look a lot more like Kaoru." She said slowly. Hikaru looked at her in confusion. Realising her mistake she started backtracking in a panic.

"Eh, I mean, that doesn't really make sense does it? Of course you _look_ like Kaoru you're his twin. I just meant you _seem_ like Kaoru more than Hikaru. Not that you don't seem like yourself too! I mean I barely know you, what do I know about who seems like who, I, eh, sorry, of course, hello Hikaru-san!" Her face had gone bright red, her hand tugging her black braids in her nerves.

She thinks I seem more like Kaoru? He thought to himself. She's the first one to ever question us when we play this game.

But that doesn't mean we're not going to win.

Kaoru smiled sweetly. "Yeah Kaoru didn't want to come. He said thank you for the letter, but you see, he's just not interested."

He almost felt guilty when he saw disappointment flash in her eyes. She put on a polite smile and bowed to him.

"Thank you for taking the time to tell me this, Hikaru-san. That was very kind of you." She turned to leave, and he called out to her.

"What about _me_?"

She paused and looked at him from over her shoulder.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, Kaoru and I look the same don't we? Kaoru might not be interested but I think you're pretty cute. So why don't you go out with me? We are, after all, basically the same person." He said with a charismatic grin.

The girl looked disgusted. "Do you truly believe that?" The harsh turn in her voice made his eyes widen.

"Looks mean nothing. Just because you look like someone doesn't mean you are them. Doesn't mean you are _anything_ like them." She spat the words in a quiet voice, her hand rising to touch her face. She glanced at him and seemed to shake off her mood change.

"I'm sorry, I'm being very rude. Please forgive me. Thank you for your flattering offer Hikaru-san. But I'm afraid I must decline." She turned on her heel and left.

Hikaru came out of the bushes and walked up to his brother.

"Well, that was unexpected."

"Yeah, no kidding."

.

.

"What's wrong thing one? Why are you and thing two so grumpy?" Amaya asked, flicking balls of paper at them.

"They attempted their double act on one of our guests and it did not go as they expected." Kyoya answered.

"How do you know about that?" the twins exclaimed.

"I make it my business to know what our guests are up to. And our hosts for that matter."

"Face it Hikaru, there's not a whole lot our shadow king doesn't know." Haruhi smirked.

Amaya swallowed.

"So, what exactly is the double act?" Haruhi asked.

"It's not that love letter thing you idiots did in middle school is it?" Amaya said with narrowed eyes.

"How do you know the love letter game?" Hikaru said.

"Well I was in your middle school for one." Amaya rolled her eys.

"Really? I didn't know that?" Kaoru said in surprise.

Amaya slumped down on the couch. "Why does no one notice me?"

"Here." Mori said, handing the twins something. Their eyes widened.

"Oh my god!" The shouted. The other hosts crowded around and collectively gasped.

"What's that?" Amaya asked.

"Just look at all that hair!"

"Hair..." Amaya's mind quickly came to a realisation. "Oh no. Takashi, you didn't."

She jumped from the sofa and ran up to group. Sure enough there it was.

It was a picture taken a month or so before her grandfather died. It was during one of the less tense days between her and Honey. In the picture Takashi was lying flat on his front, Honey sitting on his back with a big grin on his face. Amaya was lying across his legs, her arms wrapped around Chicka who looked like he was attempting an escape. Her blonde hair fell way past her shoulder, pooling on the ground. Her round face looked young, as though she should be ten instead of fourteen.

"Put that away, Takashi." She hissed, grasping for it. He pulled it out of her reach. Amaya was about to forcibly make him hand it over when she felt arms wrap around her waist.

"You were just so _cute,_ Ama-chan!" Tamkai cried loudly as he spun her in his arms.

"Let go of me!" Amaya complained, struggling against his grip. She didn't want to have to physically make him release her but she would.

Tamaki however faltered of his own accord. He quickly dropped her and stepped back hastily. Amaya sent him a questioning look and realised that he was glancing at Kyoya.

She chuckled inwardly. Looks like he doesn't want to mess with his friends _girl_.

She caught herself. I'm _not_ his girl. I _refuse_ to be _anyone's_ girl.

She sent Kyoya a look. This had gone on for far too long.

Tonight. She would tell him tonight.

.

.

Kyoya's hand rose to scratch the back of his neck but he quickly stilled it. He can't be seen fidgeting. Not now. Not in front of him.

The man who sat behind the large desk stared at him with disinterest. Kyoya did not know why he summoned him here. Surely he had better thing to do than chat with him.

Not that his father had ever simply _chatted_ in his life.

His family's patriarch cleared his throat.

"Tell me, Kyoya, have you heard of the Otazin company?"

* * *

_**Muhahaha, cliff hangers.**_


	23. Not as Planned

Kyoya sat on top his bed, one leg stretched out in front of him, the other bent at the knee. His hand clutched the damned, infernal device angrily. It usually caused him no trouble but right now it had beeped, signalling to him that he had a job to too.

He had been confused when his father had summoned him. It was normal enough for members of his family, with respect to his sister and occasionally his mother, to give each other their distance. So he was not at all surprised when the opening question from his father was about a business.

No, it was the following statement that stunned him.

"_Their CAO intends to marry Amaya Morinozuka."_

Kyoya smacked his head irritably against the wall. Why did that bother him? Many people in families like hers or his own married for business. He had always intended to.

At least he had not shown his shock to his father. Instead he kept a mildly bored expression on his face and asked, in a very businesslike manner,

"I see, may I ask how this involves us?"

Yoshio put his elbows on his desk and clasped his hands in front of him.

"The Otazin company is highly productive and rapidly expanding . In a few years their CAO will be a very wealthy and influential man. His technological skills will no doubt flow into many other branches of industry. And when he decides which companies he wants to draw up contracts with I want the Ootoris to be one of his first choices."

Kyoya nodded slightly. "I'm afraid I still don't understand how his interest in...Ms Morinozuka affects that."

"It is my belief that Ms Morinozuka will decline this offer. Her history would indicate that she is hot headedly dedicated to her freedom. She would not take well to becoming betrothed. This will naturally come as a disappointment to Otazin-san. You, however, know her personally, thus you can help persuade her to accept."

Kyoya froze.

_Convince Amaya to accept this man's proposal._

He mentally shook himself. He had no real reason to be opposed to it. He would, of course perform a full background check on the man first. As a courtesy to Amaya.

A shadow of a smile graced Kyoya's features. "So you hope that by my encouragement the two will marry and by extension I will become a noted friend."

"Indeed."

"And what, if the marriage is not a happy one? Surely they will only grow to resent me then?"

Yoshio's mouth flickered into a smile. "It takes time for a marriage to become unfulfilling. In that time I imagine you would be capable of integrating yourself into other areas of their lives. Also, this man is not from a family like ours. The Morinozukas would not be the most fitting choice given his area of work. This has led me to believe that there may be emotive factors spurring on his proposal."

That thought annoyed Kyoya. Was he another of Amaya's suitors? He knew he wasn't her first, the first night had gone far too easily for that.

Kyoya heard a knock on his father's door. He glanced to see a man he didn't know dressed in security attire.

"Sir? Your limo is prepped."

"Yes, thank you. I am finished here."

Kyoya held back a smirk and instead nodded politely to his father.

"I'll speak to you later father. I shall begin working on this...project swiftly."

.

That moment brought him to this one. Staring, like a fool, at this stupid, stupid thing. It lit up again, this time notifying him of Tamaki wanting to speak with him.

This is foolish. She clearly doesn't believe that it involves him otherwise she would have told him. Their relationship did not stem from anything more than physical desire and intellectual conversation.

He squared his shoulders and unlocked his phone, he tapped into the one he received earlier.

_Hey, want to come over later? _

He sighed and replied to Amaya,

_See you at eight._

He had business to attend to.

.

.

Mori stared out of the library window as he waited for Honey to finish speaking with their teacher about university plans. The two of them planned to go to the same college together, although what exactly they were going to study he wasn't entirely sure.

If he moved on to the campus, Mori mused, then mother and father won't have any children left at home. He found the prospect of Amaya returning highly unlikely, especially after his discussion with his mother.

She had wanted to speak with him about Amaya, of course. Not surprising considering that some man had decided to go and propose to her.

He caught himself. He was getting protective again. Which was exactly what his mother had told him _not_ to do.

He remembered the look in her eye, that cool serious face. His mother usually looked like that when she wanted to tell him something important.

He thought about the shock that coursed through him when he heard that Amaya might be getting married, and to a man that she had never met. He had accepted it calmly outwardly, but inside he felt a strange panic. Why did people continue to try and take his little sister from him?

After being told the news of the hour his parents turned to the next topic.

"Takashi, we need you to watch out for your sister. I know that you always have but she needs you now more than ever." His father had spoken in a sombre voice.

"She's not the same person she was when she left. And i know that things haven't been quite the same between you two, especially after your argument, but you need to understand that Amaya has entered in to a world more dangerous than the one she left behind in Middle School." Her mother stared at him as she spoke.

"Amaya is strong." Mori protested, with no real emotion in his voice.

His mother smirked without humour. "Oh she certainly is. She is more ruthless, fitter, stronger and colder. I'm not sure what happened to her while she was away but the girl who looked like a tall eleven year old is gone. In her place is this young woman who is far more willing to go for the jugular than I am comfortable with."

"You remember the incident with Mitsukuni? When your grandfather forced them to fight?" His father elaborated.

Mori nodded.

"Well then, you probably also recall that that particular incident was once off. The dart Amaya had with her was one she stole from samples in my office. She told me that she used to bring it with her whenever your grandfather was around because then she could imagine shutting him up. For once. She had never intended to use it on anyone, but at that time she felt it was necessary to prove her point." His father grinned in nostalgia.

"But now Amaya is not that hesitant. She also does not have the same style she used to. Gone are the days where she thought practiced forms and the name Morinozuka meant she was unbeatable. Now she fights with flips, turns and a far more shoot to kill frame of mind."

"She has, in essence, undeniably and irrevocably, changed." His father finished.

Mori regarded his two parents in diminishing surprise. He should have guessed that they would see a difference in their daughter. Amaya didn't pick her ability to read people out of thin air.

There was one thing that confused him, however.

"Why does she need protecting then?"

His mother's smile was sweet with sadness.

"Because when we said we needed to speak with her, she froze. Because when we told her about this engagement, she panicked. And because all it would take is for one person she cares about to hurt her, for her to break down and crumble."

.

.

Amaya fidgeted on her couch. For the umpteenth time she glanced at her watch. 8:03. He was three minutes late. How rude.

She shook herself for her impatience. She just wanted to get the whole thing over with. All she was going to do was tell him about the proposal, it wasn't like she had agreed or anything.

A shrill ring told her Kyoya was at her door. She steadied herself and stalked up to it, throwing it open with more force than necessary.

Kyoya stood there in the door way, the essence of nonchalance. He wore his usual designer ware and smiled when he saw her.

Something isn't right, she thought, that looks a little too like his host club smile.

"Hello Amaya, how are you this evening?" He moved past her and walked into her apartment.

"Fine. Yourself?" She closed the door, hesitating before turning back to him.

Oh for the love of god! Man up woman! Do you think he'll appreciate it if you look like a snivelling wreck?

She stood a little straighter. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm fine." Kyoya studied her. She seemed a little tense, perhaps she was wondering about the ethics behind sleeping with another man other than the one that proposed to you. Clearly it wasn't having much of an effect on her, she did, after all, summon him here.

"Alright. I have something I wish to inform you of." She said simply. Kyoya felt a pang of something unrecognisable. She was going to tell him about her potential engagement.

He decided to beat her to it.

"Does it involve a certain head of the Otazin company?"

My, my, he had never seen Amaya falter before, how interesting.

She, naturally, recovered herself and shook her head with a smile.

"I should have known the shadow king to already be in the loop." She sat on the couch and he slid in beside her.

"So tell me, have you agreed yet?"

"No, I haven't given a re- what do you mean by _yet_?" Amaya asked accusingly.

Kyoya shrugged. "You are a sensible young woman Amaya, I'm sure you can see the benefits in agreeing." Now, why did _that_ hurt to say?

Amaya exhaled slowly. That stung more than she thought it would. Not that she could let him see.

"I can. Unfortunately I am a lover of my freedom."

"You can still have your freedom. I highly doubt he will have any real hold on you. The way I see it, this could have large financial benefits for you."

Amaya bit back a laugh but failed. Kyoya raised an eyebrow as a bitter chortle erupted from her.

"_Financial benefits_. I should have expected no less from an Ootori." She smirked.

Kyoya narrowed his eyes at her. He did not appreciate the slight on his family.

"You should leave." She said with a grin.

He looked at her in surprise but said nothing.

"Oh come now Ootori, I can hardly let you stay. Especially when you consider the fact that you do not benefit me at all." Her voice went a little hard and she rose from her seat. He did the same.

"If I have offended you..."

"Hardly. How can one toy offend the other? Although you will have to find yourself a new plaything now won't you?" She spoke sweetly, her hand opening the door.

"I suppose I will. Goodnight Amaya." He stepped through the exit.

"Goodnight Ootori." She gently closed the door. She placed her ear to the door. After a moment she heard retreating footsteps.

She bit her lip and leaned against the wall, slowly sliding down it, to the floor. She sighed. At that moment Luna came up to her and nudged her face.

She smiled faintly. "That wasn't how I planned it, was it sweetheart?"

.

Kyoya stared at the closed door. For a moment he had a strong urge to knock on it and talk to her again. His fist raised itself but he stopped. He had nothing more to say.

That, he thought to himself as he walked away, did not go as he had hoped.


	24. You are Cordially Invited

_**A/N: Allo there, **_

_**Just wanted to say hi and Merry late Christmas! Thanks for all the reviews/follows/ favourites/ that you've been giving me and I appreciate every single one. **_

_**I'm writing the one shot about Amaya's past but it is turning out longer than expected, I'm just short of 6000 words at the moment and there is still a lot left to write. But I am determined to finish it!**_

_**Anyway, thank you all for reading and if you are finding the angst a little to angst-y then don't worry, I have fighting, twin related antics and two stare downs coming up in the next few chapters! **_

.

.

_Ms Morinozuka, _

_On behalf of Mr Kiyoshi Otazin, the Otazin company would like to invite you to the Winter Gala, which will take place on the 24__th__ of December at 8 O'clock._

_The event shall be hosted by Mr Otazin and his mother at their mansion. Please present this invitation at the door, along with your name, for the admittance of yourself and one guest of your choosing. _

_Please R.S.V.P at your earliest convenience._

_Yours Sincerly,_

_The Otazin Board. _

Amaya read the letter she had received that morning and groaned. She hated formal events at the best of times, let alone when they were being hosted by a man who was trying to marry her.

She wondered if anyone from the host club had been invited. She imagined the rest of her family had been. At least she could bring a guest, according to the invite. Not that she knew who to bring.

She sighed and through her bag on her back. She'd find out soon enough if any of the guys were coming.

.

.

Kyoya twirled the envelope over and over between his fingers. He had read the contents and was now fighting the urge to burn the blasted thing. His entire family had been invited, although neither his sister nor his eldest brother would be attending.

The doors to music room three burst open and a screeching idiot came into the room.

"Kyoya!" Tamaki sang.

"Yes Tamaki?" He asked tiredly, his hand stealthily slipping the letter into his pocket.

"Did you hear Kyoya? Did you hear? There's going to be a ball!" He spun in a circle.

"Yes Tamaki I heard. I too received an invitation."

"Invitation to what?" Two voice chimed as more hosts entered.

"Oh you two. To the Otazin Gala. Have the Hitachiin family been included on the guest list?" Kyoya asked.

Hikaru waved his hand dismissively in the air. "Oh that. Yeah we have." He said collapsing on the sofa.

"Our mother designed several of the outfits that the guests will be wearing." Kaoru added as he lay across the couch with his head on his brothers lap.

"This is fantastic! Do you think Mori and Honey were invited?" Tamaki asked, his question aimed at Kyoya.

"I imagine so." Kyoya said nonchalantly. Especially considering the man throwing it wanted to marry into their families.

The doors opened and Haruhi walked in, followed by the two eldest hosts.

"Oh Haruhi! It's wonderful! We've all been invited to a ball and you get to wear a dress and look pretty and dance with Daddy all night long!" Tamaki squealed as he engulfed Haruhi in a hug and spun her around.

"Ah! Let go of me Senpai, I'm getting dizzy!" Haruhi's head swayed unsteadily.

"Actually, Tamaki, I doubt Haruhi was granted an invitation." Kyoya reminded smoothly.

Tamaki gasped and looked at them in shock. "Of course! You're a lowly commoner! No one knows who you are! They would have no reason to even consider inviting someone as deep in the depths of poverty as you!"

"Oh are we dramatising things again? Because if so I'd just like to add that I'm pretty sure the twins might be aliens that need to be near each other in case the mother ship comes calling."

"Hello to you too Amaya." The brothers answered.

"Oh Amaya! It's terrible! Haruhi can't go to the ball!"

"Right...Give me a second, I think I left my magic wand in my other pants." Amaya said pretending to search her pockets.

"I think Tama-chan means the Otazin gala." Honey explained.

"Oh right, that. Why don't one of you just bring her as your plus one?" Amaya asked.

"Em...I don't know if I want to go..."

"Shush now Haruhi. We weren't told we could bring a plus one." Tamaki said.

Amaya frowned. She pulled her invite from her pocket.

"It says it here. 'Please present this invitation at the door, along with your name, for the admittance of yourself and one guest of your choosing.'" She read aloud.

"Huh? _Ours_ don't say that." Hikaru and Kaoru chimed together as they looked at their own.

"Really? I wonder why." Amaya said.

"It most likely stems from the fact he is more interested in whether Amaya will choose to bring a date or not. It is probably a test of some kind." Kyoya said smoothly.

Mori looked up sharply and glared at Kyoya. He had no business stating things that concerned his family like that.

"Why would some old CAO guy want to know about Amaya's date life?" Hikaru asked incredulously.

"Well for one he is not an old man. And for another he wishes to marry our dear bodyguard." Kyoya smirked.

The host club sunk into stunned silence. Tamaki, the twins and Haruhi all looked at Amaya who was staring at Kyoya in shock as was Honey. Mori also glared at Kyoya but in anger rather than shock.

Amaya was the one to break the quiet. "Thank you for that Ootori." She said coolly.

She turned to Haruhi. "Well seeing how I'm the only one to be graced with the honour of being permitted a guest want to be my date to this shin-dig?"

Haruhi mouth gaped a little. She didn't really want to go to some fancy party with a load of stupid rich people but on the other hand she had a feeling that Amaya might need someone with her.

"Sure. I guess it could be fun." She muttered.

"Yay! My daughter can go to the ball!" Tamaki cried out in joy.

"Yes, yes, I'm a fabulous fairy godmother, now come on, club hours have started."

"Right, positions everyone!" Tamaki clapped his hands.

.

.

"We need to talk." Mori said.

Kyoya straightened and turned in interest. Mori-senpai, wanting to speak with him? How peculiar.

He looked around and found that they were alone in the club room. He must have sent Honey outside to wait for him.

"Something troubling you?" He replied calmly.

Mori's eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. "You know about Otazin? How?"

"I wasn't aware it was privileged information. If you must know my father divulged it to me." Kyoya answered, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"You shouldn't have told the others."

"I apologise if you feel I crossed some sort of line."

"You knew you were crossing it. That's why you did it."

Kyoya blanched and regarded Mori with astonishment. His sharp words contrasted with his calm tone. But then people often did forget that Amaya wasn't the only Morinozuka capable of reading other people.

"And why would I do that?" He asked, his voice level.

"You're mad at her."

Kyoya bit back a scoff. "I'm afraid you're mistaken."

"Leave her alone." Mori said, ignoring Kyoya and stepping closer to him.

"Are you attempting to intimidate me?"

Mori put his face inches away from Kyoya's.

"Leave. Her. Alone." He said in his emotionless tone before turning away from him and stalked out of the room.

.

.

Amaya leaned her head on Haruhi's shoulder, fighting the urge to drift off. It was lunch time and they were sitting across from the twins at their usual spot. She imagined that the others would join them soon.

"Hey Amaya? When is this Gala thing anyway?" Haruhi asked between bites of her homemade lunch. She had refused to swap with the twins today, much to their annoyance.

"The 24th of December. A week and three days from now." Amaya answered sleepily.

"Okay, em... what do I wear?" Haruhi said. Amaya chuckled.

"I didn't think you'd be the one worrying about appearance Haruhi." She teased.

"What I meant was do I dress like a _girl_ or a _guy_?"

"Oh sorry, whichever. None of our guests have been invited as they aren't major heirs to anything. So you can go either way." Amaya answered with a shrug.

Haruhi considered that. Dressing as a boy would be simpler but she had a feeling that things would be easier for Amaya if she went as a girl. It would be less likely people would jump to conclusions.

"I'll go as a girl. Although I might need a dress."

Suddenly Amaya straightened. "Crap. I forgot about a dress."

"Do you have one I could borrow?" Haruhi asked.

Amaya bit her bottom lip. All of her dresses would dwarf Haruhi. It would be better if she got one fitted to her. Unfortunately Haruhi's budget and Amaya's knowledge of where to find appropriate clothing were limited. Of course she could pay for Haruhi's dress, if she let her.

Her eyes moved to the two red headed demons sitting across from her.

"Hey doppelgangers. I have a proposition for you."

They glanced at her and grinned.

"We're listening."

Amaya wove her fingers together and leaned her chin on top of them.

"Fancy finding a dress for myself and Haruhi for this gala?"

"You mean..."Hikaru asked.

"...Choosing..." Kaoru added.

"...what you two wear?" They added with Cheshire cat smiles.

"Yes. _But_ there are conditions." Amaya said.

"One: You can't put Haruhi in anything risqué, flashy or that would make her completely uncomfortable. No feeding your perverted fantasies.

Two: The dresses cannot make us look ridiculous or in any way peacock-y.

Three: If you put me in anything pink or anyway overly girly I will kick both your skinny asses."

The twins looked at each other and started to whisper in one another's ears. After a moment they dethatched.

"We have discussed your terms and find them agreeable."

"Glad that we could do business with you." She winked at them.

.

.

Kaoru scanned through the dresses of his mother's latest lines.

"Find anything?" He called out to Hikaru.

"Not yet- Wait!"

"What is it?" Kaoru asked, walking in the direction of his brother.

"I think I found one for Amaya." Hikaru had a twinkle in his eye that his brother knew he was scheming something.

Kaoru looked the dress over and let out a low whistle. "Are you sure? She might kill us."

"Why? It doesn't go against any of her rules."

"Yeah but...Mori and Kyoya might not see it that way."

"Well she's meeting her potential future husband isn't she?"

Kaoru sighed and finally let a grin come to the surface.

"Alright, one down. Now let's find Haruhi's."

.

.

Amaya followed the man in front of her. It surprised her that she hadn't recognised him. Most people in his profession had been trained by either her family or the Haninozuka's. But then again, she had been away for two years and it was possible she may have forgotten his face.

She spotted the man she had come to see's wife. She was chatting with one of the maids. She laughed a little before Amaya lost sight of her.

"I'll ask him if he is able to see you." The security man told her and disappeared into the office.

Amaya took a breath and swallowed. She doubted she'd be waiting long. Her very presence here would spike his curiosity enough.

"He will see you now."

Amaya nodded. "Thank you."

He opened the door and she stepped into the modern styled office. It had little in the way of a personal touch, medical qualifications hung on the wall, framing the man behind the desks achievements.

She inclined her head to him and he gestured to the chair across from his. His black eyes watched her with curiosity behind glass frames. His black hair, the same colour of his sons but shorter, had begun to grey at the temples.

"Hello Ms Morinozuka. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked in a level tone.

She smiled and sunk into the comfortable chair.

"Good afternoon, Mr Ootori. I've come to have a little chat."


	25. Lions, Wolves and Ball Gowns

Yoshio Ootori sat a little straighter in his chair. He inclined his head as he regarded his guest with suspicious eyes.

"What exactly is it you wish to speak to me about?" He asked, his hands clasped in front of him.

She smiled sweetly. "I'm afraid, Mr Ootori, that I feel as though you may have...overstepped certain bounds."

His eyebrows raised for a split second. Interesting, Amaya noted, he does keep his emotions on a tight lease.

"Oh? And what bounds is it that I have crossed?" He said.

"You have interfered with my personal life. Something which I simply cannot allow to pass without remark." She leaned comfortably in her chair, her voice level, but he saw the spark in her eyes. Amusement mixed with anger.

"I see. How, may I ask, have I in any way affected your relationships? Before this day we had never met."

Better to make her say it, He thought to himself.

"I never said the word relationship. But if you feel the need to completely feign innocence then allow me to discuss my theory of what you did."

"Go on."

She smiled. "I believe that you heard of the proposal and saw a business opportunity. I believe that you intended to use your son to improve your ties with the Otazin company. I also think that this is the extent of what you told Kyoya. However he is unaware of your other motivator for using him to get close to Mr Otazin. You really didn't like the fact I was sleeping with your son did you?"

Yoshio blinked in surprise. An unexpected turn of events.

"What makes you believe that I was aware of that?"

Amaya smirked. "You are a seasoned business man. You are obviously capable of getting cosy with others in your field. Also you have a reputation for being a very serious business man. It's very unlike you to attempt to use emotional ties to indirectly form alliances. It's too messy. There would only be two reasons for you using your youngest son this time. One, you are attempting to reach out to him by giving him a chance to prove himself using the charming persuasive techniques that come oh-so naturally to him. Or two, you found out about his connection to me and saw little gain in it. You, do, after all have connections to my family already, another benefits you very little. So instead you decide to use our 'relationship' to test your son's loyalties. I assure you he passed by the way."

Yoshio tapped his fingers together. For a while neither of them spoke.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" He asked blandly.

She grinned. "By that? No. That much was easy to see. Kyoya's sudden knowledge had to come from somewhere as did his urge to involve himself in the situation."

"Fine. You are clearly not stupid. But you are still _young_. Which means you are not as infallible as you think you are." Yoshio said.

"So you're not going to say sorry?" Amaya teased. Yoshio's jaw twitched in annoyance.

"No, I won't be. Now if you'll excuse me I have urgent matters to attend to-"

"No you don't." She cut across, her tone bored.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I came here with no appointment and without notifying you of my arrival. I was seen within five minutes. If you had anything truly important or even mildly prominent you would have kept me waiting. In fact I would go as far as to say that you are using me to avoid something."She studied her finger nails.

"These pathetic attempts of deduction are wearing-"

"How long has your son been having his affair?"

He froze for a moment. "What are you-"

"You keep fidgeting with your wedding ring. This implies that something is bothering you in the marriage department. Not yours though. These walls may be blank, no family portraits on them, but in the rest of the house there are pictures. The most common of which leading up to this room are of your wife. Clearly you love her. Also when I saw your wife just now she seemed perfectly at ease. You wouldn't have married a stupid woman so I find it unlikely you could hide your unhappiness in your marriage from her. That being said you are hiding something. Your eldest son and your daughter are the only ones married as far as I know. When I came into this room you looked deep in thought and also a little, shall we say, ashamed? If your child was the victim and not the adulterer than you would have no reason for shame."

"How did you know it's my son and not my daughter?" Yoshio asked and immediately wished he hadn't as his words confirmed her suspicions.

"I didn't. I do now though. Your sons marriage was an arranged one, was it not? I do hope his wife doesn't find out, that'll make a terrible mess in the press." She smiled smugly.

"Alright Ms Morinozuka, you've made your point. I see that you are not without teeth." He said with a level tone but his eyes were cold.

"Me? I'm just a girl that doesn't like everyone knowing her personal affairs, something I'm sure you can relate to."

He fought the urge to smirk. He felt like they were playing chess, he had moved first with his son and now she was retaliating.

"Yes, indeed I can. It is an impressive party trick that you can do. If only it had some real world applications."

Amaya pouted slightly as she thought about that and Yoshio had to hold back a smile as he waited for her to be discouraged.

Suddenly Amaya's face brightened again.

"On your desk you have a report on the Datkin company's profit levels. From here I can read that it says the they have dropped. I can also see you have information on your stocks. I'm guessing you are thinking about selling. I wouldn't. The Datkin's CAO died from cancer this year and his young daughter has taken over. From what I hear she has been expanding the business. Probably in some attempt to assert authority. That being said the area that she has expanded into has been successful. I think that the final accounts at the end of the year will be much more appealing." Amaya said her eyes sparking with triumph.

Yoshio felt shock course through him. He had underestimated this girl's intelligence. Although at her age she could do little to him he was becoming increasingly aware of just how dangerous she could become when she was older. He felt like an alpha wolf staring down a lone young lioness. At the moment he had a pack behind him and so could easily destroy her but he knew there would come a time when she formed her own pride and when that happened they would all have to pay heed to her.

Yoshio raised an eyebrow. "Do you intend to go into business, Ms Morinozuka?"

She laughed. "No Mr Ootori I do not. Medicine is my calling, I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear."

He nodded. "When you finish at college, I suggest you contact me. We may be able to find you a job at one of the Ootori hospitals."

"Thank you sir. That's very generous." Her eyes flickered to her watch. "I must leave. I imagine I'll see you at the Gala."

"I look forward to it." He stood out of politeness. She bowed to him and after a second he did the same.

With a final grin she turned and walked out the door.

What an interesting young woman, Yoshio thought to himself.

He glanced over the papers in relation to the Datkin company. They were related to languages and he saw that their new CAO had opened various new schools around the country. Perhaps he should give Midori Datkin some time.

.

.

Kyoya glanced out his bedroom window. For a moment he thought he saw a blonde figure walking out of his house. He shook his head and told himself off for imagining things.

.

.

A week later and Amaya heard a knock on her apartment door. She looked over at Haruhi who was sitting at her kitchen Island on one of the diner style stools. Haruhi took a deep breath and Amaya gave her a reassuring smile.

She opened the front door to see two triumphant looking twins standing there holding dress bags. They grinned wildly at her and practically skipped into her apartment.

"We have something pretty for you two." They sang as they placed the dresses carefully on the sofa.

Amaya rolled her eyes. "Glad to see you enjoyed your job so much. Hey, where are you two going?!"

The twins looked at her innocently from in front of the door that they were trying . "We were just going to go home. After all, our mother needs our help, what with the Gala being so soon."

Amaya narrowed her eyes at them. She had a sneaky feeling that those two were planning to escape before they saw what they had picked out for her and Haruhi.

"You do know that if these are horrible or in any way break the conditions I gave I will kick your ass."

"Mmhmm. Of course we do." They gave her a perfectly synchronised wink and with that they closed the door behind them.

Amaya shook her head. "I suppose we should see what they picked out."

Her and Haruhi walked over to the couch. Amaya saw Haruhi's name was written on the top one and she picked it up. With a cautious look from her friend she unzipped it and they collectively gasped.

"Wow." Amaya said.

"It's beautiful." Haruhi breathed.

The dress had a corset styled top with a princess skirt. The bodice was white with gold thread shooting vertically up it. It had soft, sheer gold straps that would billow over her shoulders. The skirt was white as well but it had the same material as the straps covering it giving the whole ensemble an incredibly princess-esque look.

"Tamaki-senpai is going to go mad when he see's you in that." Amaya said with a small smirk.

Haruhi just touched the smooth material as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that she was getting to wear something so pretty. She didn't care for clothes much but still, it was a very well designed piece.

"They did a good job, didn't they?" Amaya said happily.

"Yeah. They did." Haruhi said, returning the smile. "How about we look at yours?"

"Sure."

Haruhi picked up the other bag and eagerly unzipped it. What she saw made her freeze with surprise.

"Scratch the part about them doing a good job." Haruhi said.

"Those twins." Amaya muttered.

.

.

"How long until Amaya calls us do you think?" Kaoru asked with a smile on his lips. He was lying on his back on their bed.

"I dunno. Not very long I'm guessing." Hikaru answered as he played with his phone.

As if on cue his ring tone started playing. He smirked at his brother before flipping it open and saying in a very calm tone of voice,

"Hitachiin residence."

"You two have an interesting sense of self preservation."

"Ama-chan. Now what can we do for you? Do the dresses fit?" Behind him Kaoru started snickering uncontrollably.

"Oh, like a dream, love. Unfortunately you seem to have forgotten some of mine."

Hikaru smiled and winked at Kaoru. "You mean you don't like the leg slit?"

"Slit? That's not a slit, half the dress is missing!" Amaya exclaimed in his ear.

Hikaru chuckled. "Well you never said anything against that."

"Em...I'm pretty sure rule one was against revealing things."

"No it was against revealing things for Haruhi. You just said that you didn't want anything pink or girly. Which it isn't."

"I.." He could practically feel Amaya fuming on the other end.

"Well played demons." She finally said.

"Why thank you. We'll see you tomorrow, our little model." He hung up before she could retort.

"Do you think she's actually mad?" Kaoru asked with a chuckle.

"No. My guess is she's annoyed because she thought we did something she told us not to." Hikaru said, jumping on top of his brother's stomach.

"Umph! Hikaru get off!"

.

.

Amaya looked at her phone in irritation. She studied her gown again.

Amaya's dress was definitely not one you'd see in a Disney movie. It was black as sin and strapless. On the right the material draped down to the floor but it moved diagonally so that by the time it reached the left the dress only came to quarter of the way down her thigh. At that point a silver design that looked like the branches of the tree started. It moved upwards and outwards gracefully spanning the plunging sweetheart neckline. When Amaya turned it she saw that the back dipped halfway down with the same tree pattern. It looked as though it would be tight fitting too.

The worst part was that it was beautiful too. It was risqué, no doubt about it, but at the same time it was the kind of dress that suited her.

I hate how good they are at their future careers, she thought.

* * *

_**A/N: We're getting closer to the end of this story :O**_

_**So if you haven't yet can you please drop me a review and tell me what you think :) **_

_**Don't worry I won't let you go without a ball, a fight and a sprinkling of drama, ;) **_

_**IvyN.O **_


	26. The Ball

"Dad! Stop taking those stupid pictures!" Haruhi complained, trying to block the camera with her hand.

"But you look so pretty Haruhi!" He squealed. Amaya chucked from behind them as she fixed her bracelet on her wrist.

"It's not like we have a chance to see you all feminine very often, do we." Amaya said with a smirk.

Haruhi did look gorgeous though. Amaya refused to let her put extensions in, claiming she wanted her to look like her when she was all dressed up. Her short hair was thick and crimped, her makeup was simple but they had put gold shades on her eyes to really bring them out. Amaya had lent her some gold clip on earrings. Her white shoes had a small heel on them but considering how they wouldn't be seen Haruhi refused to wear anything too fancy.

"Here, Honey. Put this on." Ranka said softly. He pulled a long gold chain from his pocket. He placed it in Haruhi's open hand and she studied it intently.

"It's a pocket watch." Haruhi remarked as she clicked it open.

"It was your mother's. I think it would go very nicely with this dress." Ranka said, taking it back off his daughter and fixing the clasp behind her neck.

"There. Now you really look like a princess." Her father said dreamily. Suddenly he started to sniffle.

"OH you look so grown up I can't even handle it!" He wailed. He moved to attack-hug Haruhi but Amaya caught him.

"Em...Ranka? You don't want to ruin the dress now do you?"

"Oh, right. Of course not." He straightened and took on an army like stance.

"You ready Amaya?" Haruhi asked as she rolled her eyes at her father's antics.

"Yup. Shall we go downstairs? The limo should be there by now." She said, grasping her black clutch bag. They stepped out of Amaya's apartment, where they had been getting ready, and she locked the door.

Amaya wasn't too keen on the idea of getting a limo but she had been told that in this instant it was necessary. They walked gracefully to the car, well, Haruhi wobbled a little, and the driver opened the door for them.

"Wait! I want one last picture of the two of you!" Ranka shouted, his camera ready to strike. Amaya chuckled and nodded while Haruhi groaned.

"Fine. But make it quick."

There was a flash and Amaya ran up to Ranka.

"Let me see!" She smiled.

They did look lovely, if a little contrasting. Haruhi was all gold and princess like where as Amaya was black and dangerous. The dress was just as sensual as she knew it would be, clinging to her every curve. Due to the split her shoes were on show so she opted for a high pair of heels that were black with a silver netting wrapped over them. She wore a chocker style silver necklace which had a chain dropping down from its centre, a black jewel resting just above her neckline. Her blonde hair had been pulled up tonight, with the front layers on the right side of her face left down and curled. Her eyes were smoky, her lips blood red.

Basically she looked _hot_.

"I want that framed." Amaya told Ranka with a wink before grabbing Haruhi by the hand and pulling her into the limo.

"You ready to go to the ball?" She asked. The smaller girl just shook her head and laughed.

"I don't really know what I'm supposed to do at this thing."

Amaya shrugged. "Dance. Nibble on canapés. Pretend the people there are interesting."

"Talk to potential husbands." Haruhi put in with a grin. She instantly regretted it as she saw Amaya's shoulder's tense.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have said that." She amended.

Amaya let out a small smile and shook her head. "No its fine. That is what's happening tonight. No matter how much I pretend it isn't."

"You don't like him?"

"I've never met him. He could be lovely."

"So you don't like the idea of an arranged marriage?"

Amaya shook her head. "Not particularly. But if I like him I don't care if the marriage is arranged. I'm not much of a romantic."

Haruhi nodded. "Right. So it's Kyoya then."

Amaya turned her head sharply to look at her. "I'm sorry?"

"Something has happened between you two. You used to be all flirty but these past two weeks I don't think you've said ten words to each other. And, no offence, but when you have said something it's been appropriate and not dirty minded."

Amaya blinked in surprise but let out a small chuckle. "I guess I'm not as subtle as I thought. You're right, there was something going on but it was just physical and it's over now. We had an argument because he went all business opportunity on my life and I didn't like it."

"All business, Sounds like Kyoya." Haruhi agreed.

Except it isn't, Haruhi thought. Not really.

.

.

"Well, this is nice." Amaya noted when they walked into the ballroom. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, a band played softly in the corner, there were waiters holding glasses of champagne and canapés on trays. It was the classic rich party scene.

God I'm bored already, Amaya thought to herself.

"Let's go find the others." Haruhi said. She needn't have bothered because at that moment a loud shriek pierced the air.

"HARUHI!" Tamaki flew at them and stopped in front of their faces.

"You...you look..." His cheeks started to pink and Amaya bit back a snicker.

"Hey Amaya, looking good." Hikaru said, coming up from behind them.

"Yeah, don't see what you were complaining about." Kaoru said, following as always.

"Hey, what broke the boss?" They asked in confusion.

"Haruhi's epic gorgeousness." Amaya explained. Haruhi's cheeks went a deep pink. The twins looked over at her and their eyes went as big as saucers.

"We...eh..glad... you like... dress..." They managed to splutter.

"Oh, what do you know, they even get gobsmacked in unison." Amaya remarked.

"Haru-chan! Ama-chan!" A childish voice squealed and Amaya felt something tackle her around the waist, causing her to stumble.

"Woah! Careful squirt, I'm not exactly in practical footwear here." Amaya said shakily dethatching her cousin.

"Must you make such a scene." Another voice sighed irritably. They turned to see Chicka looking very smart in his tux. In fact all the boys looked very handsome in their black penguin suits. Amaya embraced him in a hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Aw, Chicka-chan, what's wrong? Not having fun?" Amaya pouted at him making him roll his eyes.

"Hardly. I'm going to go find father. You look very well Amaya." He said the last part as an afterthought.

"Yeah. You do." Takashi grunted. He had a slight tightness to his jaw and Amaya could tell he was struggling a little with the risqué aspect to her dress.

"Haruhi you look like a true princess!" Tamaki suddenly shouted. The group turned to look at him as he bowed to her offering a white rose.

"Oh look he snapped out of it." Hikaru snickered.

"Em..thanks senpai." Haruhi said accepting the rose and then looking confused as to where to put it.

"Here. Let me." Amaya offered, taking the flower and securing it in Haruhi's hair with a clip. It made her look a little younger but she also looked about ready to run on to the set of a Disney movie.

"Thanks Amaya." Haruhi smiled, a hand tentatively reaching up to finger the petals.

"No problem. I have to take care of my date. Speaking of which, would you like a drink?" Amaya asked.

"No I'm-"

"I will get the drinks!" Tamaki announced, sprinting across the dance floor and practically knocking over a waiter.

"-fine" Haruhi finished with a frown before chuckling softly. Amaya was glad that she didn't appear to be hating this.

"Ms Morinozuka?" A male voice asked them. Amaya turned to face the speaker.

He was a good looking young man, probably only a few years older than them. He had tousled brown hair that fell to around his chin in length. His grey- blue eyes were apprehensive although his tall stature of 5 foot eleven was held with a certain level of self confidence. He was of slight build, similar to Tamaki's.

And Amaya couldn't shake the feeling that she had looked into those eyes before.

She put on a polite smile and bowed gracefully. "Mr Otazin, I presume?"

"Yes." He confirmed as he returned the bow. He looked at the other members of the group.

"Thank you for coming this evening. My company and family appreciate your presence here. Please enjoy yourselves. If there is anything you need a member of our staff would be more than happy to assist you."

Spoken like a true CAO, Amaya thought to herself.

"Thank you for inviting us, Mr Otazin." Honey replied, his voice less childish in that moment. The others nodded their agreements.

"You're welcome. Now I was wondering if I may be so bold as to steal Ms Morinozuka from you for a dance." He extended a hand to her and she ruefully took it.

"Of course, Mr Otazin."

"Please, Miss, call me Kiyoshi." He said smoothly as he led them on to the dance floor.

"Wow, that guys pretty impressive." Kaoru noted as they watched the two's retreating backs.

"Yeah. You said." Hikaru agreed.

"Considering his impressive financial and commercial achievements in such a short period of time one can assume he is quite a capable person." A cool voice stated.

The twins and Haruhi jumped at the shadow king's arrival.

"Kyoya! When did you get here?!" The twins shouted.

"I have only arrived. Now, I must speak with several influential characters. If you will excuse me." Kyoya's voice had a feint edge to it. Haruhi watched him, studying his expressions. There was a slight tension to the way he was holding himself.

A business opportunity. That's what Amaya said he saw in her proposal. Nothing else. And Haruhi had a suspicion Kyoya had convinced himself that that was all he wanted from her.

How can people so clever be so stupid? Haruhi asked herself, exasperated.

.

.

"You dance well, Kiyoshi-san." Amaya complimented. It was a waltz, which suited her fine. She didn't feel like doing much movement in this tight fabric.

"Not as well as you Ms Morinozuka. But then your family is pretty good at the physical side of things." He said before faltering.

"I mean of course because you are martial arts experts. Not in any other sense. Not that you would necessarily be bad at..."He started to go pink and Amaya giggled.

"Relax, Kiyoshi-san. I don't mind if the mask slips." She whispered in his ear.

His swallowed and looked at her with a little grin. She liked his smile. It was warm and gentle.

"I'm that obvious am I? My mother will be horrified, all those etiquette classes for nothing." He smirked.

"Well, not for nothing. That speech you gave to my friends was very articulate and proper. I found it very believable."

"Believable, appropriate considering I am basically acting tonight. People don't like to remember my mother was 'the help' once. Makes them _uncomfortable_."

"Yes, us arrogant rich people." Amaya teased.

"Not you, Miss. You never saw me as some son of some maid." His voice grew soft.

Amaya's brow furrowed and the music finished. They stopped dancing but they left their hands in the traditional waltz position.

"You speak as though we've met before. In which case you may call me Amaya." She said carefully.

He smirked. "We have. Would you like to accompany me to the balcony?" He offered her his arm and she took it. As they walked out she spoke.

"How offended would you be if I were to tell you I don't recall meeting you in my life?" They walked out to the large open balcony that seemed to float in the night sky.

He laughed. He dethatched himself from her and strolled to the edge, looking out over the city of Tokyo. "Not at all. In truth that fact that you don't remember makes you all the more special. Because it wasn't significant enough for you to put to memory, because it just seemed like the done thing to you."

Amaya frowned and joined him. She leaned forward on the stone railing that enclosed the balcony.

"You want to tell me where we've met before..." She trailed off, something in her mind whispering the answer.

"No..."She said slowly.

He grinned goofily. "Hello."

"But...you looked so young! I thought you were eight or something!"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I was a month away from twelve. In my defence I didn't grow until I was about fifteen."

"You, you..." She shook her head. "Those bullies were the same age as you, weren't they?"

"Yes. I think my young looks were what made them so annoyed in the first place."

Amaya bit her lip with a smirk. "Wow. I must have made quite an impression."

"Well, you and your stick."

She chuckled again and before she knew it the two of them were laughing. She didn't expect it to be this easy, this comfortable.

"I haven't been able to get you out of my head since." He muttered, taking a step closer to her.

Suddenly a thought struck her. "Em...you remember that I did kiss another boy then, right?"

He nodded but shrugged. "He deserved it. He was being very rude. Besides, it was eight years ago, I don't think I can hold that against you."

She looked away for a moment. _Sure_...I haven't kissed that _same_ boy recently...I _definitely_ haven't been _sleeping_ with him for that past few weeks...She thought sarcastically to herself.

And as she thought about that she turned to really study the man beside her. He was intelligent, funny, handsome, kind, honest and, judging by his held on attraction to her, loyal.

He wanted to marry her. She was lucky. Even if she didn't really believe that.

"Are you cold? It is December after all." He asked in concern.

Great. The bastard is caring and thoughtful too.

"No, I'm fine." But he didn't want to except that as answer and removed his jacket and put it over her shoulders. A flash of irritation coursed through her. She said she was fine, she meant it.

The action brought them a little closer together and she found herself looking into his eyes. Their breath's mingling in the night air.

.

.

Haruhi giggled as she spun with Mori. The guys had been taking turns dancing with her.

And each other, she noted as she saw Hikaru and Kaoru paired together beside her.

To her surprise, Haruhi had found herself enjoying the party. After returning with her drink Tamaki asked if he could have this dance. At which point the twins started shouting about wanting to dance with her. If was a good thing that this thing would be going on for a while.

Although depending on how things go Amaya may not want to stay, she thought, throwing a glance in the direction of the balcony. They had been out there for a while. The glass doors and curtains made it hard to see.

The music stopped and Mori released her with a slight smile. Haruhi had a feeling he wanted to know what was going on out on that balcony just as much as she did.

"May I step in?"

She turned to Kyoya with a smile. Speaking of people who would like to know what's going on...

Mori locked eyes with Kyoya before nodding. Haruhi felt a jolt of surprise. It seemed those two weren't on the best of terms.

"Enjoying yourself Haruhi?" Kyoya asked as they began to move.

"Yes. This is better than I thought it would be."

"Indeed, this isn't exactly your average night. I am surprised Amaya left you alone to it."

Haruhi's jaw twitched. "She left me with friends. I have a feeling she's having a worse time than me."

"Why, where has our gracious host taken her?" He asked emotionlessly.

"Out onto the balcony. I think you should give them some time." Haruhi warned.

"I would, but unfortunately his mother has sent me looking for him." Kyoya answered in a bored tone, letting go of Haruhi.

"Kyoya-senpai?"

Kyoya paused in his movement towards the glass doors. "Yes?"

"Not everything should be about business."

Kyoya inclined his head to her but he left. Haruhi shook her head and felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to Kaoru who gave her an understanding smile before asking her to dance.

.

.

Amaya pulled back from Kiyoshi.

"I'm not going to marry you." She said it matter-of-factly.

She heard his breath catch and panged with guilt.

"Are you sure?"

She bit back a chuckle and looked him in the eye. "Yes. I am not becoming engaged to anyone. I'm sixteen years old."

He nodded. "Not getting engaged. Fair enough." She sensed a shadow of his lighter side seeping back into his face.

Quickly, so quick she didn't have a chance to dodge, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She froze in surprise, her hands coming up against his chest.

She pushed Kiyoshi from her, smirking slightly. So that's how it feels to have someone steal a kiss from you.

"Don't do that again." She warned but her voice wasn't hard.

"Can't guarantee that." He winked.

"Ahem." A voice interrupted from the door.

"Kyoya!"Amaya exclaimed.

He noticed it was the first time she had referred to him by his first name. Why did it have to be now?

"A friend of yours?" Kiyoshi asked.

"You could say that..."Amaya mumbled, desperately hoping Kiyoshi didn't recognise Kyoya.

"I didn't mean to interrupt but your mother asked me to come find you." Kyoya said to the other man, his eyes not so much as straying to Amaya.

"Oh ,thank you." He took Amaya's hand in his and brought it to his lips. "Until we see each other again, Amaya-san."

"Kiyoshi-san wait. Your jacket." Amaya said, holding it out to him. He took it and left, his gait light and happy.

Kyoya turned away. Amaya didn't know what to say. When he reached the door he paused.

"You look beautiful tonight Amaya. If perhaps a little inappropriate. But then I suppose the outfit served its purpose didn't it?" His voice was calm but meant to inflict pain.

"Kyoya don't," She reached out and caught his hand. "It wasn't like that. I'm not going to marry him."

Why was she explaining herself? Why did she feel the need to?

"Oh? My, I never knew you were this cruel Amaya. He doesn't deserve this. Do you enjoy playing with men? Do you get off on the power you have over them?" He yanked his hand from hers. He no longer could keep his voice cool, a snarl started to creep into it.

Why was he so angry? What did it matter what she did with men?

"I do not play with men." Amaya's voice turned harsh in turn.

Kyoya laughed humourlessly. "That is just untrue. You do realise that you're talking to me right? Your most recent play thing."

"Stop acting like such a victim! You wanted me to marry him. You hold no claim over me."Amaya spat.

"I don't do I? Tell me Amaya, in your mind what exactly were we to each other?" His voice was light again, spite spilling through each word. How desperately he wanted an answer to that question.

"We're exactly what you said we were. Each others toy and distraction. You, Ootori, are just as guilty of playing as I am!" Amaya snapped. She hated people who ran away from responsibility.

Kyoya opened his mouth to speak. No words came out.

"And what's more, anything we had, or could have had _you_ put a stop to. We are nothing but something to be used when one of us is bored." Her voice was getting louder and she struggled to stop herself from screaming the words at him. She refused to cry. She _refused_ to.

Kyoya felt angered by the way she was getting the upper hand. Enraged he decided to cut deep.

"Perhaps I should go warn Mr Otazin. His future wife is logical and manipulative. I _highly_ doubt you would be _committed_."

"What are you implying?" Amaya hissed.

"We both know I was not your first. And I imagine I wasn't even your last. Tell me how many other _distractions_ have you had these past few weeks?"

Amaya's jaw dropped. He felt a flash of triumph, followed by an echo of regret that his anger burned out.

After a moment she whispered. "You are very lucky that I am not one to slap someone in public. Although with your father I imagine you're used to it."

He was stunned. He should have known better than to try to hurt Amaya with words. She saw too much for him to win. She pushed past him and made to leave.

"Good bye Ootori. I don't believe I'll be seeing you for a while."She said from the door.

"No, I don't suppose you will." He stated plainly.

She left. And he hated her for it.

.

.

Haruhi sipped her glass of champagne as she took a break from the dance floor. Beside her the twins were holding a plate of canapés playing their new favourite game, What can we make Haruhi eat?

"Try it." Hikaru prompted, holding the slime on a cracker near her face.

"I am not eating that."

"It's fancy." Kaoru sang, holding his own one.

"I don't care if they are the fanciest of all the fish eggs, I'm not eating it!" Haruhi protested.

"You're no fun." Hikaru complained.

"Yeah, look _we'll_ try it." Kaoru said, popping it into his mouth. Immediatly he made a face and grabbed Haruhi's glass from her. He chugged down the entire drink and when he finished he panted.

"I am _definitely_ trying it now." Haruhi said sarcastically. She noticed a tall woman, around Mori and Honey's age glance their way. She had multiple piercings in her ear and her black hair was cut short at the back with longer layers coming to under her chin at the front. She smirked at them and turned back to her neighbour, a boy around the same age with shaggy brown hair and tanned skin hinting at European origins.

They make an odd pair, Haruhi thought before looking at the two red head's beside her who were taking turns trying canapés and grimacing.

Alright, maybe they aren't that strange.

"Having fun?"

Haruhi jumped and she looked up to see Amaya there, looking at her. She was smiling but Haruhi saw it didn't reach her eyes.

"This party isn't bad. How about you?"

"Yeah, It's _great_." Amaya said with a bitter chuckle.

"Hey, come on you two, let's dance!" The twins demanded. They accepted the doppelgangers' extended hands.

.

.

In the limo on the way home Haruhi studied Amaya. She was obviously upset.

"So, what's Kiyoshi like?" Haruhi asked carefully.

Amaya smiled. "He's nice. Really nice. He's a good guy."

Haruhi nodded. "Yeah he seemed like he is."

Amaya didn't speak but just shook her head up and down slightly.

"It's a pity Kyoya-senpai is a good guy too."

Amaya turned to look out the window and didn't reply.

.

.

_**A/N: Well that was longer than I thought it would be. **_

_**But I suppose I consider this one of the major moments in the story so it deserves to be.**_

_**I'm sorry if Kyoya went a little too OC here, I was just trying to get them at each others' throats. **_

_**So I hope you enjoyed and if you did please review!**_

_**Oh and if any of you are wondering who the hell Kiyoshi is read chapter three again. **_

_**Happy New Year.**_

_**:) **_


	27. An Unnoticed Plot

Does this make me a stalker, I sincerely hope not...Amaya thought as she patiently waited for Mr Ootori to come out from his meeting. She overheard him make arrangements at the Gala two night ago and she wanted to speak with him. After her argument with Kyoya she didn't feel like going to his house in case she ran into her jilted Ex.

Finally Mr Ooroti came out of the office building, followed by his usual entourage of bodyguards. Amaya frowned as she realised she didn't recognise any of them bar one, they must have started training after she left.

She tossed the coffee cup she had been sipping from and carefully stood up. She was returning back from target practice so she had a two throwing knives on her. Best she kept them covered so the bodyguards didn't go all protective on her ass.

"Hello Mr Ootori. Lovely day isn't it?" She said pleasantly as she approached. His eyes flickered with surprise but he kept his usual composure.

"Ms Morinozuka. I was not expecting to see you today." He said, pushing his glasses up his nose, just as his son so often did. She saw the bodyguard closest to her tense, no doubt assessing the threat she presented.

"I came to have a quick word. I hope you don't mind." Amaya kept her tone light even as the security moved in on her. One of them pulled out a phone and started texting.

"Alright. All of you, give us a moment." Mr Ootori ordered.

"But sir, she may be armed." One of his men in suits protested.

"She's a Morinozuka, she is undoubtedly armed." He said coolly and Amaya winked at the security officer. His jaw tensed but he stepped away. The one of them whispered something to the officer she recognised, what was his name, Rin or something like that, and she watched as he followed four of them down the road.

"Now, what do you wish to speak about?" He asked moving a little further from his remaining security who started to move around the area.

"I just thought I would inform you that I will not be accepting Kiyoshi Otazin's proposal. I have no interest in marrying anyone for the next ten years." She said with a smile as they continued to walk. They passed a man talking on the phone about his mother in the hospital.

"Oh? And why are you telling me about this? I thought you made it quite clear that you did not want me concerning myself with your personal affairs." He said curiously.

"I do not. But I wanted to make sure of something. You see, I think you should know that your son is not a factor in my refusal. That arrangement has come to an end. As a courtesy I have come so you won't feel a need to..." She faltered as her Morinozuka sense started tingling.

But what is setting me off...She questioned. She glanced around but couldn't see anyone near them, minus the man on the phone.

"Feel a need to what exactly?" Mr Ootori asked irritably.

She shook her head. "Feel a need to punish him for denying this possible...business..." She sharply turned her head.

The man on the phone was talking to a business client now.

But he had never hung up from the first call.

Oh for the love of god...not now. She was _so_ not in the mood for this.

"Something wrong Miss Morinozuka? You seem distracted."

"We need to move." She hissed. She grabbed his wrist calmly and pulled him in to a nearby alley way.

"What on earth are you doing?!"

"That man on the phone, do you know what he was talking about?"

"Something involving his mother."

"Tell me, how is it we heard him when we were walking away from him and he appeared to be standing still? And why have none of your security men reacted violently when I, someone who they know to be armed, just pulled you into an alleyway? Or are for that matter anywhere to be seen?" She started searching for a way into the building on their left.

Mr Ootori raised an eyebrow at her. "You think the man on the phone was following us and that my security has been apprehended?"

"Yes and that is two things that hint at trouble. What I don't understand is how come your men weren't securing the area in the usual way. They all seemed to be moving all over the place." She swore inwardly as she saw no back entrances.

"Well they weren't trained by your family. Naturally they will know different techniques than the ones you are used to."

Amaya came to an abrupt halt. "What?" She whispered. That's why I didn't recognise any of them. They weren't her family's students.

"They were hired last month during the issues your club was having. I assigned a squad to look after your guests at that time. The new men were brought in to replace the ones at Ouran. Your family had no graduates at the time. So we recruited else ware." He frowned at the girls reaction to the news.

"Are all of those men ones hired during that time?" She asked seriously.

Mr Ootori frowned. "Now that you bring it to my attention I believe so. Other than Ryu. He's been working with me for years."

"Call him. Now." Amaya ordered. She yanked her knives out of her bag.

He did as she instructed, surprised by her grave behaviour. She was usually so relaxed. After a moment he heard a click.

"Hello this is Ryu, I'm sorry I can't take your call right now, but if you leave me contact details I'll-"

He disconnected the phone.

"He's not answering."

"Shit." Amaya swore. She remembered seeing Ryu last with the other body guards.

"What is going on?"

"I'm not sure. But what I do know is that we have a group of guys whose training and past is unknown to us, a man who was faking a phone conversation and a security guard who is not answering his phone. None of this bodes well."

"My, my. You are a clever one aren't you?" A new voice remarked from the back of the alleyway.

They turned to see a man in his thirties, flanked by three others, with a smile on his face. Amaya glanced back at the entrance where they came in and saw two others. One of them was the man with the phone, the others were Mr Ootori's body guards.

Minus Ryu, she noted.

She griped the handles of her daggers tightly, although she knew they'd do little against the guns the men were holding.

"I heard about you. You caused us a quite a bit of trouble back in Ouran. Five of our guys are in jail now, granted they weren't our best. If they were I wouldn't have let them get caught." He smiled wickedly.

"Although, I do applaud you. Even if you are a Morinozuka, I'm impressed." Well at least now she knew who that guard had texted she thought glumly.

"Mr Ootori, I advise you hold on to me." She muttered low enough so only he could here. She shifted in the hope that her blades would remain concealed for the time being.

"Now why would you be attacking teenage girls? You have an anti rich people agenda or something?" She asked sweetly, slowly stationing herself closer to the building on her left. She knew there was no back doors to the building on her right, she was hoping to get lucky with the opposite one.

The man chuckled, he had dark twisted eyes but a charismatic face.

"On the contrary I adore the rich. They are so accustomed to the life of luxury that when you shake their world they are willing to do anything to bring back their silk sheets. Including paying simply offensive amounts of money."

Amaya nodded. "So you deal in extortion. Strange, considering that you never wanted money from..." She froze as realisation took her over.

"Oh...That is clever." She whispered.

He smirked proudly. "Why thank you, I am very proud of it."

"Care to tell me what I am missing?" Mr Ootori asked calmly.

"It seems that we've been unwittingly playing a game with this man for quite some time. He organised the attacks on our guests so as to distract us. I, naturally, got in the way."

"Why would he concern himself with that club of yours?" Mr Ootori said, his hand reaching for his phone. He began to type in the emergency number.

"You said so yourself. You lent men to Kyoya at the time and hired new men to replace them. They even had the foresight to do it during a time where all of my family's recruits would still be in training. I always thought that the motive for the assaults was too weak. This makes sense though. You see, Mr Ootori, they wanted in on your security so they could, slowly, organise this."

"And what is _this_?"Mr Ootori questioned, about to ring the dial tone.

"Your kidnapping. Now Mr Ootori," The man took a gun out of his coat and pointed it squarely at Amaya.

"Hand over your phone or Ms Morinozuka dies." He said with a charming smile.

_**A/N**_

_**The next chapter has been written. **_

_**Review if you want it ;) **_


	28. Fight of Her Life

_**A/N Okay, so maybe that was a little bit mean of me... :P Ah well, I won't make you wait any longer, here you go, **_

"You won't kill her. She's valuable too." Mr Ootori argued but he threw his phone on the ground.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "True, but unfortunately we only planned for you and, no offense intended sweetheart, but the CAO of the Ootori company is more valuable than the second child of another rich family. Also I have no intention of creating a personal vendetta with the Haninozuka and Morinozuka clans. That being said I will kill you if you so much as move."

He snapped his fingers and the men around him started to close in on them.

"Don't do anything foolish girl." Mr Ootori hissed.

Amaya smirked. "Now what makes you think I'd do something foolish?"

They grabbed Mr Ootori and dragged him away from her, another pair of hands clamped down on her shoulder and tore her away.

"I'll come for you." She told him sternly.

"Knock her out and dump her in the back alley." Their leader ordered as they walked towards the exit where a black van was awaiting them. Amaya studied it intently.

"Oh, and if you do decide to have a little fun, try not to leave too many marks." The boss said flippantly.

The three men nodded and began to drag a surprisingly compliant Amaya around the corner of the dark alleyway.

They stopped and one of them pulled out a rag and a bottle that Amaya recognised as chloroform. She began to struggle and the two holding her tightened their grip.

And...now!

She plunged forward and the ones containing here jerked with her. She got a good grip on their arms and used them to help her kick high in the air, her foot colliding with the man holding the bottles chin. He fell to the ground, disorientated.

"Little bitch" the one on her right swore and she flicked her ankle up, catching him in the groin. She twisted her head and head butted him. He moaned as pain coursed through the two areas of his body, causing him to slump over and release her.

A click to her left told her the other man had taken out his gun.

Shit. She froze as he pointed the barrel directly at her forehead.

"Nice try. Now stop." He ordered. She gulped and nodded faintly. Thank god for natural acting abilities.

With her now free hand she whipped out her dagger from her pocket. Carefully, so he wouldn't see, she moved her hand. She had one shot at this, if she screwed it up she could die.

Taking a deep breath she began to move with the gun holder as he barked an order at his accomplices.

"Get up! Get the damn bottle and knock this little bitch out!"

The one she had head butted wheezed but stood up shakily. As the man with the gun's gaze flickered to him Amaya made her move.

She twisted the arm he was still holding out of his grip. At the same time she swung up her wrist and plunged it into the hand with the gun. She fell to the ground instantly as she heard a bang echo overhead.

There was a pain in her left shoulder and she realised in shock that the bullet had clipped her. Had she taken but a second longer to fall she would have died.

It had the desired effect however as the gun fell from its owners hand. She scooped it up and flipped to her feet, pointing the gun out.

"Alright boys. Let's talk." She smiled.

The one she kicked in the chin's hand twitched and she swung the gun in his direction.

"Oi! None of that or else I'll start shooting." She warned, glad that she had taken marksmanship classes.

The man snickered. "I don't think you got what it takes to kill someone. I think you're too scared." He rose to his feet, the two other men, one with a dagger in his bloody hand, the other holding a chloroform bottle and reaching for his own gun, flanked him.

Amaya gave him his sweetest smile. "Who said anything about shooting to kill?"

She re-aimed and squeezed the trigger. The man howled in pain as the bullet took out his kneecap. A second shot fired and she shot through the hand that had previously been reaching for his gun.

The other armed man's hand grasped at his weapon and she swerved around the corner. She heard shouting as they followed after her. She hid behind a dumpster and waited.

They ran ahead, the first one, the one with the gun, went past. He paused in front of her and she grabbed him from behind, an arm wrapping him in a choke hold, the other yanking his gun hand into the air. He fired a shot into the sky as he gurgled and squirmed. After a moment he slumped in her arms unconscious.

She panted and picked his gun off the ground. One left she thought, her usual bravado gone.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the man lunging at her with her own blade. Not knowing how to react quickly enough with a gun she whipped out her knife. The dagger he was holding sliced open her right arm but hers plunged in somewhere far more deadly.

He gaped as her knife slid neatly into his gullet, no doubt doing irreversible damage to his organs. He made to pull it out but Amaya grabbed his hand.

"Pull it out and you will die. People would have heard the gun shots. Police and an ambulance are no doubt on their way. I advise you sit tight until someone finds you. That goes for your friends as well. Put pressure on the wound and you may live. If you attempt to come after me I will consider your life forfeit." She instructed. She rummaged through the men's coats and took their two guns. She took her remaining dagger from the floor and took a deep breath.

"Where are they taking Ootori?" She barked in the face of the one with broken kneecap. Considering one was bleeding to death and the other was out cold he was the only one in a position to answer her.

He stared at her, clearly trying to assess the value of his loyalty versus the likely hood of her using torture to get the answer she wanted.

Evidently fear won out.

"There's a lake house around ten kilometres North of the city. They're going to use the motor way to get there."

"Thank you for your cooperation." Amaya said politely. She whacked him over the head and he slumped unconscious.

"There, now you get to sleep through the pain."

Without another word she sprinted down the alleyway, hoping to intersect the black van before it made it to the motor way.

There was a chain link fence blocking off the exit and she leaped over it. She continued sprinting, ignoring peoples alarmed shouts as they saw a bloody girl carrying guns.

Which way would they have gone? She thought in frustration. She knew which way was north but the area was a little unknown to her.

She grabbed a man in a suit. He shouted in fear.

"So sorry to bother you sir, what is the quickest way to the motorway from here?" She asked politely.

He gaped at her in horror.

"Quickly now, I'm in a bit of a hurry." She pressed. The man nodded rapidly and started spluttering.

"That road there. Take a left, continue on and take the third right. After that you take the second left, it'll lead you on to it."

She grinned at him. "Thank you, you've been ever so helpful." She bowed to him and started running again.

I think I'll take the back roads, she thought to herself. Best they don't know I'm following them.

She dived into another alleyway.

Let's hope there's traffic.

.

.

"Are you comfortable, Mr Ootori?" The leader asked with a smile.

Yoshio just looked at him dully over the rim of his glasses. "I am tied up in the back of a van. I would hardly say I am comfortable."

The criminal chuckled. "I like you, sir. You are very strong willed, you put up a good front." He grabbed Yoshio's face and pulled it up to his.

"How I will enjoy breaking your shell." He muttered, an animalistic glint in his eye.

"I look forward to it." Yoshio replied smoothly.

The captor's face contorted viciously. He struck him harshly across his cheek, knocking the glasses from his face.

"Arrogant bastard." He snarled. He took some duct tape out of his jacket pocket, giving Yoshio a glance of his gun. He also had a dagger on his hip, quite like the Morinozuka girl.

He cut a piece of the duck tape and slapped it roughly over Yoshio's mouth. He opened the sliding metal window that allowed him to speak with the driver.

"How much further?" He questioned angrily.

"Not too much sir. There's a lot of traffic in this area though." The driver called back.

"Any word from the others?" The boss asked.

"They've disposed of the security guard's body in the dumpster like you said. They're going to meet us at the lake house."

Security guard's body, Yoshio's eyes widened. _Ryu_.

"Good. Tell me when we are approaching the safe house."

He turned back to his prisoner. He chortled at his surprised expression.

"You look like you're in shock Mr Ootori. Did you think that your dear employee was slumbering peacefully? I'm afraid unlike that young lady you were with he has no family who I'm afraid will decide to avenge him. He should have taken the bribe we offered him. Loyal idiot." He chuckled again and Yoshio felt rage boil inside of him.

He started to count. Three had remained with Amaya. Three were here, the leader, the driver and the man in the passenger seat. That meant that four were on their way to lake house. Four of them had killed Ryu and dumped his body like thrash.

As they slowly drove through the traffic he grew more and more desolate and felt more and more helpless.

.

.

Amaya's side burned. Sweat was beginning to drip into her eyes from her brow.

"Why the hell are there this many black vans in Tokyo!" She exclaimed angrily.

Another chain link fence appeared in front of her. She leaped over it but her foot caught on the top. She fell badly on her side and it exploded in pain. She had a suspicion she had cracked a rib.

Can't stop, she commanded herself. The package has not been secured, she thought, her mind dipping into her training.

The adrenaline took her over and she pushed forward.

She broke out on to the street. The traffic was beginning to thin here. She prayed that they had not already gotten through. Scanning the oncoming vehicles, her breath hitched as she spotted a sleek black one, the windows tinted, and that seemed very familiar. If she simply shot out the tyres they would still be able to make a getaway on foot. She needed to take out as many as possible. Her mind went into overdrive as she desperately searched for inspiration for a plan. She spotted a street sign over head. She could climb up on to that if she wanted to.

The gun in her hand suddenly felt heavier as she knew what to do.

Alright. Time to do something incredibly stupid.

She readied herself and moved out to the road, pointing a gun directly at the approaching van.

.

.

Yoshio jumped as he heard a loud bang shake the vehicle. Another came, and another and another.

"What the hell is going on?!" The boss snarled.

"Were getting shot at!" The driver shouted back.

"By who?! The police?!"

"No, some girl." The passenger said back as he put together his gun.

"Well run the brat down!" The boss snapped.

.

.

Amaya emptied the guns clip into the windshield in front of the passenger. The other cars on the road had swerved or sped up to get away from her.

The van kept coming and she knew they planned to take her down.

She blew out one of the tyres, drastically slowing them down. They couldn't stop moving though. That would ruin her plan.

She used the rest of her second guns bullets to create a series of weakness's in the bullet proof windshield.

She leaped up to the top of the sign and readied herself. The van kept moving, obviously hoping to get away with their prize and thinking she had gotten out of the way and was giving up.

Now.

She fell from the top of the sign, her right leg extended as she burst through the windshield, landing heavily on the passenger who yelped in surprise.

She head butted him and he slumped in his chair. She snapped her remaining gun up to the drivers temple.

"I advise you pull over. " She hissed.

.

.

Yoshio felt the van stop. He looked up at the visibly worried leader. He took out his gun at pointed it at the door. Yoshio saw his chance and rammed him against the side of the van, his head connecting with the metal with a bang. He was knocked out instantly and fell roughly on to the floor.

"Mr Ootori!" Amaya's voice called out to him. She slammed open the vans door. He saw she was limping, there were scratches on her face. She pulled out a knife and cut his bonds. He thought it was strange that she was stooped over on her left when she appeared to have broken ribs there.

"I hope this doesn't wax your beard" She said yanking off the duck tape across his mouth. It stung but he made no noise of complaint.

She spotted the slumped over leader. "Did you do that?" She asked, a raised eyebrow on her pale face.

"I am not entirely useless." Mr Ooroti said smoothly. She laughed a little breathlessly.

She pulled his arm over her shoulder and helped him up. He noted that she didn't seem very stable herself. In fact she was shaking slightly.

"You're going to be fine. Just hold on." She muttered. He rolled his eyes, he was barely hurt, no need to be so dramatic.

When they stepped out they heard the sirens of the emergency forces and Amaya sighed with relief.

"Oh thank god, someone called an ambulance. Everything's going to be okay" She stumbled.

"Oh stop that. I'm perfectly fine." Ootori growled, frustrated with her exclamations.

Amaya chuckled weakly.

"No offence, Mr Ootori, but I wasn't talking to you." Amaya stumbled again and he looked her over properly. She was bruised, no doubt nurturing fractured ribs, a painful but not too dangerous an injury... his eyes stopped at her right leg. Her jeans were soaked through with blood and shredded. The red liquid was trailing behind her on the ground. The way she was holding it implied that her foot was badly broken.

He watched in horror as her lids drooped and she collapsed to the ground, her head smacking against the curb with a sickeningly loud crack.

"Get an ambulance!" He screamed.

_**A/N: Alright so chances are you are wondering what the hell just happened. **_

_**Well, you may think that this was spontaneous but this was planned from the very beginning. I had placed a few hints here and there that the attacks were about more than just the hosts.**_

_**Any who, please don't eat me and I hope you enjoyed. Don't worry I'll update soon :) **_

_**Please review! **_

_**IvyNO. **_


	29. Morinozuka Blood

Kyoya's phone started ringing. He scanned the screen and saw who was calling him.

"Hello, Mother." He offered as greeting.

"Kyoya. You need to come to the Northern Ootori Hospital. Your father was involved in an incident." Her voice was cool.

Kyoya froze. "I see. How grave are his injuries?"

"Superficial. However, you are still required."

"Understood. I will depart as soon I finish this work for my club-"

"No. You need to come immediately." She ordered.

He frowned. "If you wish, but if no severe damage has been done I don't see the need for-"

"Kyo-kun. Listen to me. You need to get here now."

He felt a course of shock at the sincerity in his voice.

"Alright. I'll be there."

.

.

"Takashi!" His mother's voice came to his ears. He was out in the training area.

"Hmm?" He asked, surprised by her aura of urgency.

"Something has happened to Amaya. We have to get to the Northern Ootori Hospital." She said her voice shaking.

She was scared. No, terrified. _His_ _mother_ was terrified.

And so was he.

.

.

"Kyoya." His mother breathed. She walked to him and pulled him into a hug. He hadn't expected that.

"How is father?" He asked once she released him.

"Fine. He's fine. He's speaking to some police officers at the moment." She told him, looking over her shoulder in the direction he imagined his father was in.

"Police Officers? Exactly what type of incident was it?" Kyoya said curiously.

His mother sighed. "A kidnapping. Turns out his entire body guards force was in on it. Except for...except for Ryu...He's dead."

Fear began to pulse through him. Distant relationship or not, the man was still his father. And he had nearly been taken from him by murderers. He understood why his strong mother was showing so much fragility at the moment.

"I take it Ryu was the one who saved him." Kyoya said quietly. He remembered the stoic man that often stood by his father like a shadow. He would be a hard body guard to replace.

His mother's gaze shifted to the floor. She grasped his hands in between hers.

"Kyo-kun...He never got a chance. They shot him in the head before he knew what was going on." Her voice was fringing on inaudible.

"Well then how did he escape? Did the police arrive early on? Or did he see Ryu get shot and sprint away?" Kyoya asked in confusion. His father was a man of words, he may use physical punishment at times but he would hardly be able to fight several men at once.

"No...He had someone with him who they hadn't anticipated. This person...is currently in intensive care."

No, Kyoya began to panic.

It couldn't be. It can't be.

But who else is there?

"Who was with him?" He asked calmly.

"Dear..."

"Who was with him?" He snapped.

The hospital doors opened and Kyoya glanced over to see the Morinozuka family, minus one member, sprint in.

It confirmed his horrors before his mother even spoke her name.

"Amaya Morinozuka."

.

.

The host club waited in the hospital halls agitated. Kyoya was sitting with his elbows on his knees, his leg bouncing up and down impatiently. Mori was pacing, Honey was sitting beside Haruhi holding her hand, looking like he was about to cry. Tamaki and the twins just stared into the distance, uncharacteristically quiet.

Suddenly the doctor came out from the theatre where Amaya was. Kyoya darted to his feet.

"Well?" He said his voice laced with the authority of being the bosses son.

"Her condition is stable."

"What are the extents of her injuries?" Kyoya pressed on.

The doctor pursed his lips. "I'm afraid that is not information I can give out to anyone other than family."

"I'm her brother. Talk." Mori ordered. His mother was currently speaking to Mr Ootori and his father had accompanied the police force to the lake house. A move that could result in four more deaths tonight depending on how things played out.

The doctor's jaw twitched but he sighed. "Fine. I would advise you sit down." He told Kyoya and Mori.

"We'll stand. What is the prognosis?" Kyoya said calmly behind gritted teeth.

The doctor exhaled heavily. "She has three fractured ribs, dozens of superficial scratches, minor internal bleeding and bruising to her forehead, most likely resulting from banging it against her assailants' skulls. There is a bullet wound to her left shoulder and a gash caused by a knife on her right arm. Our main concern when she first came in was her leg. It's completely lacerated, she almost bled out. She has broken about 14 out of the 26 bones in her foot completely and the rest have suffered some damage. Her tibia and fibula are also fractured. Her femur however is intact, which is good news. There were no arteries cut. She was lucky there. These injuries are serious but she could make a full recovery. However, she will require the use of a wheel chair for some time."

"So Amaya-chan's going to be okay?" Honey asked.

The doctor hesitated. "Hopefully. Unfortunately she sustained one other injury. She has suffered a major head trauma. She is unconscious and has been given anti-inflammatory steroids in the hope to reduce the swelling and rouse her. She is not currently reacting to stimuli."

"Is that code for her being in a coma?" Haruhi said in a whisper.

"That would be an appropriate term for her condition."

"How long until she wakes up?" Mori asked.

"With these injuries it depends on the individual." The doctor said, spreading his hands wide.

"An educated guess will suffice, doctor." Kyoya said charmingly.

The doctor's eyes narrowed. "Her injury is severe. She has shown considerable strength so far. She could wake up tomorrow but at the same time she may not wake at all."

.

.

"I told you to stay away from her!" Mori snarled in Kyoya's face, shoving him against the wall. The doctor had left now and the larger boy had turned on his friend.

"Mori, this is not Kyoya-senpai's fault!" Haruhi protested. She placed her hand on his arm but he didn't seem to notice she was there.

"Why was she talking to your father?" Mori questioned.

"I don't know. I had no idea she has been speaking to him." Kyoya shot back.

"I thought you knew everything." Mori argued.

"Takashi stop. This isn't helping Ama-chan." Honey said, his voice firm but upset.

Mori glared angrily and dropped Kyoya to the ground.

"You don't know anything about helping her." He said to Honey, causing the blonde's eyes to widen.

He stormed off to find his mother and find out when he could see his baby sister.

I can't lose her, he thought to himself, I only got her back.

But then, the last time he tried to stop her leaving he only made things worse.

Mori remembered when he first heard about Amaya leaving. After his grandfather died the adults went to a meeting about the will. They all emerged with sombre faces. He had put it down to the loss of the family patriarch, he had no idea that his home life was about to change.

It was Mitsukuni who told him. They had been training and his cousin had seemed as distracted as his parents did. When he questioned him on it he glanced to the ground and started chewing his lip. It took no small amount of pestering before he managed to drag these words out of Mitsukuni.

"My father told me that...grandfather put something unexpected in his will. It says, it says that," His eyes looked so very guilty and sympathetic when they finally met Mori's own.

"It says Amaya had to leave or the Haninozuka company will be shut down."

He still remembered the shock, the assurity that he must have misheard him. But his cousin's distress was enough for him to realise it was true.

He didn't recall leaving Mitsukuni or even turning away from him. What he did know was that he ran as fast as his long legs could carry him, all the way to his sister's room.

She was sitting on her bed with her back to him, her hair a golden shield around her small shoulders. She was staring out the window.

"I guess you heard." She muttered after a moment.

"You can't go." Mori said gruffly.

She chuckled weakly. "It's not that simple Taka-kun."

"Yes it is. You're too young. You can't leave."

She turned to look at him, her eyes were shining. He knew she was upset. But so was he.

"I have to. I won't let him beat me." She said, her voice rising a little as she spoke.

"Stop being so arrogant! He's dead! Stop caring about what he thinks!" Mori shouted.

"I don't care what he thinks! I never did!" She argued back.

Mori scoffed. "You always did."

Amaya clenched her fists. "I'm not fighting with you Takashi. Not now, not when I'm going so soon."

"What do you mean by so soon?" He questioned with narrowed eyes.

She took a deep breath. "I leave by the end of the week."

"Weren't you going to tell me about it?" Mori asked.

"Of course I was! I only found out about this two days ago when I overheard mother and father speaking about it!"

"I can't believe they are going along with this." Mori said bitterly.

Amaya swallowed. "They're not. I am. I didn't give them a choice in the matter."

Mori mouth opened a little. "You did what?" He whispered.

She looked at him, unsure. "I...I decided. It's the right thing to do Takashi. Two years isn't that long, not really. And it'll save the Haninozuka company."

"You couldn't give a damn about the Haninozuka company. Stop acting as though you're doing this because you're noble."

Amaya looked gobsmacked. She put her the heels of her palms to her eyes.

"Can we please not fight? I don't want to leave on bad terms."

Mori's eyes narrowed. "Then you shouldn't have decided to leave."

He stormed out of the room. They didn't speak again before she left.

.

.

"Takashi, there you are." His mother breathed when he approached. She grabbed his hand and commenced dragging him down another one of the white halls.

"Amaya has come out of the operating room. She's being moved to a room in the ICU at the moment." She told him.

"Did the doctor tell you how bad she is?" Mori asked, worried his mother was about to get the shock of her life.

Her jaw clenched. "I've been informed." She said in a tight voice.

The doctor glanced up from his clip board when they approached. He smiled reassuringly at them.

"Ms Morinozuka's family I take it."

"Yes, we are." His mother said calmly, her face acting as a mask to her emotions.

"Alright. I must warn you before you enter that she is not looking her best at the moment." The doctor said before pushing open the door. Amaya had her own room, not surprising considering that this was one of the most impressive of Ootori's private hospitals and she was the owner's saviour.

Mori heard his mother's breath hitch momentarily as she clasped eyes on her daughter.

Amaya lay asleep, or rather comatose, in a white hospital bed. A blanket covered her up to her chest. She had IVs hooked up to her and machines measuring her heart beats.

"I'll give you a moment. Should you need me I'll be at the reception desk outside."The doctor excused himself. Mori nodded at him before returning to look at his sister.

Amaya's face was shadowed by bruising that lightly started at her forehead and slowly coiled around her temple, darkening as it went. There was a long scratch marring her right cheek. On the top of her right arm he could see a bandage.

Stab wound.

She was wearing a hospital gown but it was open at the top so Mori could see another white cloth wrapping around her chest and left shoulder.

Three fractured ribs. Bullet wound to the right shoulder.

He walked up to her bed and gently pulled the blanket up, exposing her right leg. He swallowed as he saw the swollen foot and leg that was covered in soft fabric.

"The doctor told me that they couldn't put a hard cast on as it could lead to infection." Her mother said matter-of-factly as she carefully put the cover back.

Mori nodded. Because it's not like she's done enough things to get herself killed yet.

"Stupid girl." Mori muttered as he pushed her hair back from her face.

His mother laughed. "Stupid like all you Morinozukas." She teased with sad eyes.

Mori looked at her in surprise. She chuckled.

"Oh come now Takashi. I know you like to think Amaya is fragile but the fact is she is part of our family. She was not going to turn away from someone who needed her. She's too like your father for that. And like you." His mother's eyes were glistening.

"She should have-"

"Should have what, Taka-kun? Because of what she did today Mr Ootori is going to go home to his family. Your friend has kept his father. Dangerous murders have been apprehended."

"So that makes it okay?"

"No. But it makes it understandable."

.

.

_**Sorry for the angst! And if Mori went to OC!**_

_**Please review if you enjoyed it, the next chapter is more Kyoya orientated. **_

_**By my count there should only be a max of two chapters, possibly just one, after this, of course I might start blabbing on and end of with more. **_

_**Until next time and as always thanks for reading,**_

_**IvyNO**_


	30. Mental Struggles

Amaya groaned as she sat up. She rubbed her forehead at the sharp pain that stemmed from her temple and shot through her head. She was unwilling to open her eyes, afraid the light would burn them.

What happened? She questioned. I remember glass and gunshots...but the rest is like a dream I can't quite grasp.

"The pain isn't real, you know." A feminine voice said calmly.

She started. She recognised that voice. She would want to.

She cautiously lifted her lids and saw something incomprehensible.

It was herself, standing in darkness, her hip cocked and an arrogant scowl on her face.

"You just going to lie there, or are you going to get up?"

.

.

"Come on, Amaya. Get up." Mori whispered as he sat by his sisters bedside. Two days had passed since she 'fell asleep'. In that time they had found the other four members of the gang that had organised the kidnapping. Three were in custody, apparently one wanted to go out fighting. One of the men who Amaya had escaped from and fought had also died. Did that make his baby sister a murderer? No, he didn't think so.

"Hello Mori-senpai."

He glanced up and saw Haruhi standing in the door frame. It must be getting late, the others tended to visitnin the evening. They were on winter break at the moment which meant he didn't need to worry about missing school. Not that he would anyway.

"Any news?" Haruhi asked, moving to sit beside him.

"No. Doctors say her wounds are showing good progress."

"Well at least they've moved her from ICU." Haruhi said in an attempt to lighten the mood. Mori nodded slightly. He noted that Haruhi seemed to have short hairs on her clothes.

"Cats?" He questioned.

Haruhi glanced down and blushed. "Yeah, Amaya's. I thought I'd go make sure they were doing okay. I know the landlady said she would feed them but still, Amaya liked to take care of them so I figured I'd go...check."

Mori smiled softly. He was glad to know that other people cared about Amaya enough to think of little things like that.

"Thank you." He said.

Haruhi gave him a smirk. "It's no problem. Em...Mori-senpai?"

"Hm?"

"Kyoya-senpai is coming later. I just thought I should tell you." Haruhi's voice was nervous.

Mori's jaw tightened. He hadn't spoken to his 'friend' since their argument when Amaya was first hurt. He had considered what his mother had said before, however.

_Stupid like all you Morinozukas._

_She was not going to turn away from someone who needed her._

It wasn't Kyoya's fault. But he desperately wanted it to be _someone's_.

.

.

"So, I'm dreaming of myself. Wow, didn't think that I was this much of a narcissist." Amaya chuckled. The pain in her head was beginning to subside.

"Narcissist? No. I'm just the only person you trust. Not something you should take that much pride in by the way." The figment, because Amaya found it difficult to describe her as something else, sneered.

"What's up your ass?" Amaya asked, getting to her feet. As soon as she put any weight on her right leg she screeched and stumbled to her knees.

"What...the hell..." She gasped. Her entire bottom leg was in agony. It felt as though the very flesh had been torn to shreds. She looked it over. The skin was flawless.

"I told you. That pain isn't real."

"Well it feels pretty damn real." She shouted back, but even when she focused on it, it already began to dissipate.

What is going on? She tried to think about what happened before she came here but there was nothing but more darkness.

There was noise though. She remembered shouting...

She clutched at her side which stabbed sharply with pain. Falling, I remember falling, She thought.

"Get up. Stop all this nonsense." The figment ordered before turning her back on Amaya and walking into the black that surrounded them.

"Hey! Wait!" Amaya shouted. "Where are we going?"

"To where you have to go."

"Where's that? What are we doing?"

"I can't do anything. You have to do this yourself."

.

.

"Do you understand Amaya? You have to get yourself out of this." Kyoya instructed fiercely.

Four days. He knew the rules about this. The longer the patient is in a coma the more likely you are to lose the person they were before they went in. And the less likely it became that they would wake at all.

"Hey, Ama-chan, we've come to visit! And we brought presents!" Hikaru called from the corridor.

"What's this _we_ business? I'm the one caring them!"Kaoru remarked.

"Well, I was busy opening doors."

Kyoya groaned at the sound of Hikaru's and Kaoru's incoming voices. He rose to leave and let them have time alone with her. As he did he leaned in and whispered in her ear,

"You will get out of this, though. You are far too stubborn not to."

.

.

"How am I being stubborn?" Amaya demanded. They were no longer in blackness. As they walked into the nothingness of her mind their surroundings slowly transitioned into a stony cliff face. It was high, with angry waves crashing mercilessly against the jagged rock beneath.

The figment turned to her. "You refuse to drop your infernal questions."

"I just want to know what you plan on doing." Amaya snapped, her hair whipping into a frenzy around her.

The figment tilted her head to the side. It freaked out Amaya to see her own mannerism being broadcasted in front of her.

"I'm doing what you need me to do."

"Stop being so bloody cryptic! Can't you just say something clearly?!" Amaya shouted.

The figment chuckled. "It's not fun when it's the other person who has all the answers is it?" She started to stalk around her in a circle. Amaya refused to do the stereotypical action of swerving to follow her and so continued to look straight on.

"You do adore being the smartest person in the room don't you? Tell me, do you think you make everyone feel this inferior all the time?" Her own voice taunted her lowly, emanating from behind her.

"I don't make people feel inferior." Amaya protested.

Rapidly the figment appeared in front of her, her inch a face from her own.

"You can't lie to me. I know how flawed you are. How pathetic." She hissed. She began to move past her but not before whispering in her ear,

"No wonder Ootori wanted rid of you."

Amaya gasped and turned to glare at her.

"What are you?" She growled.

The figment lifted her chin proudly.

"Look whose finally asking the right questions. I'm your guide, your subconscious guide."

"I'm pretty sure I don't hate myself that much." Amaya said.

The figment smirked. "Don't you?"

The ground underneath Amaya's feet disappeared and she yelped as she fell through the howling air.

.

.

"Don't you get how much I miss you? You stupid blonde brat." Hitomi demanded. She came to visit Amaya. It was five days since the car crash that put her friend in this state happened. She was just thankful that Mr Ootori was there to rush her to the hospital.

She sighed. "You helped me when I got hurt. And now, our positions have been switched and I'm useless. Figures, you were always the capable one. I was just the short friend accessory." She muttered, her hand closing around Amaya's.

"Don't be too hard on yourself Hitomi-chan." A young sounding voice comforted.

Hitomi jumped. Why does no one in Amaya's family make any noise?

"Oh, hello Honey-senpai. Thank you but it's kind of hard not to be." Hitomi said with a forced smile.

"We all feel kind of helpless right now. It's okay if you don't smile." Honey said, sliding into the seat beside her. He was about the same height as her. She was glad for his presence, even now he had a light to him that was infectious.

"Is Kyoya-senpai here?" Hitomi asked as she noted a laptop on a chair along with a coat.

Honey nodded. "Him and Takashi have been coming every day. I think Kyo-chan went to get something to eat."

"I guess Amaya's pretty important to them."

.

.

"Who do you think you're important to?" The figment asked.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew everything." Amaya shot back. She was clinging to the edge of the cliff. The figment was looking down on her with those familiar brown eyes.

"You know, you shouldn't give yourself such attitude. But then you give it to everyone."

"All part of my charm."Amaya said sarcastically. Her arms were burning from the strain. No, wait they were only hurting in two places. Her left shoulder and right bicep.

Bullets and daggers flashed in her mind.

"Yes, you are quite the charmer aren't you?" The figment said, her eyes narrowing at her.

"What are you getting at?"

"Besides Ootori? How about Kiyoshi Otazin?"

.

.

"Otazin." Kyoya said stiffly. He had not expected to see _him_ when he walked into Amaya's room. And yet there he stood, his body relaxed, his eyes taking in Amaya adoringly.

Stupid infatuated bastard, Kyoya though coldly. He did his research, he knew this was the boy who Amaya saved from the bullies that day.

"Ootori-san. I didn't expect to see you here." Otazin eyed him suspiciously.

"Figured out who I am, I see." Kyoya said amusedly. He sat in a chair on the other side of the bed.

"Yes, you kept that bit of information a secret at the Gala." He replied, sinking into a seat himself. They sat on either side of her now. Unintended rivals.

"Not at all. You merely never asked."

"Well I hadn't considered it a possibility. That being said neither did you."

"Pardon me for not considering that the boy from eight years ago would still be obsessing over a girl he barely knows."

"This coming from the other boy from eight years ago."

"That's different. I didn't purposely seek her out." Kyoya said.

"And that makes you, what? A coward or a fool?"

.

.

"Amaya!" She turned to the sound of her name.

"Kiyoshi?" She breathed. She glanced at the figment, who stepped back and allowed the man through. He threw himself to the ground and reached his hand out to her.

"Take my hand. Come with me." Kiyoshi begged.

Amaya stared at him and shifted her hand towards his. Suddenly she caught the figment's eye. She was waiting to see whether or not she would except his help, except him.

"What shall it be Amaya? Coward or fool?" The figment asked.

Amaya hesitated. After a moment she shook her head with a grin.

"Fool. Always fool." She gave Kiyoshi a smile and his eyes widened.

"NO! Don't!"

But Amaya didn't listen as she threw herself from the cliff face and embraced her doom.

.

.

Otazin and Kyoya stared hard at each other for a while, neither speaking. After a while Otazin pulled out a watch to check the time. He sighed.

"I have to get back to work. I'll come visit again." He told the slumbering girl, his hand reaching out to gently brush her cheek. Kyoya tensed but made no complaint. He had no grounds to, really.

The older man hovered by the door.

"She refused my proposal. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up on her. Watch yourself Ootori, she has more cause to reject you than me."

Kyoya just looked upon Amaya's face and tried to figure out exactly what he was hoping for.

.

.

Yes...

I fell before...

And there was pain...

Actually, I think I fell twice...

Now, why in hell would I do _that_...

Oh, right. That bloody Ootori...

Amaya thought all this as she floated on the water. The fall hadn't hurt. In fact the water was quite pleasant, it had calmed as soon as she dived into it.

"Staying here wouldn't be that bad." She mused a loud.

"You'd go insane from boredom within a week. You practically have already."

Amaya moaned. She turned her head to see that damned figment lying a top the water beside her.

"Why? Because I'd have to spend it with you?"

The figment smirked. "Because you'd _know_. You're too clever."

"Exactly what would I know?"

"That it's _all_ _you_. Everywhere you look. It's you. You think you enjoy your company that much?"

"Well if they're all like you then I'm sure we'll get on _fabulously_." Amaya said sarcastically.

"You created me. I had to help you do two things. The first was to remember."

Amaya nodded. "Well, that's a check. I decided to pick a fight with a windshield and banged my head. I'm guessing that I'm unconscious or something."

"I believe the correct term would be comatose."

"Oh joy." Amaya said rolling her eyes. "Fancy telling me how to get out of it?"

"You must want to." The figment said cryptically.

"You think I haven't wanted to! I'm been trying to since I first met you!"

"The swelling in your brain has healed enough for you to regain consciousness, I imagine. Therefore you are the only factor."

"UH!" Amaya pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You said..you had to help me do two things. What was the second?" She asked slowly.

The figment smiled. "To realise."

"Realise, what?"

The figment sighed. "Don't be a coward. Accept it."

.

.

"Was Otazin-san here yesterday?" Tamaki asked. He had his school work propped open on his lap. Today was their first day back.

Kyoya glanced up with a quickly disguised frown.

"Yes, he was." He replied calmly.

Tamaki bit his lip but pressed on. "Doesn't that bother you?"

"What possible reason would I have for that to bother me?" Kyoya said in a bored tone.

"Because...you care about her."

Kyoya sighed. "I thought I already told you that our arrangement was finished."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Tamaki protested.

Kyoya stared at him in surprise, he was really going to follow through with this.

"Yes it does. I'm sorry if what we were doing didn't conform to your mindset on what a physical relationship should entail but the fact is Amaya and I were not emotionally involved."

"Then why have you visited every day since she got here?" Tamaki questioned.

"She was harmed in the process of serving my family, I have a duty to make sure she receives the best possible-" Kyoya began to answer smoothly.

"You know, for someone so clever you're really not getting this. Don't you realise how close you were to losing her?" Tamaki stressed.

"I'm aware of the extent of her injuries, thank you Tamaki."

"I don't think you are! I don't think you understand how lucky she is to be alive. Even if we were to forget that she is currently comatose due to a serious head injury which could have ended her life,-"

"You don't need to explain-"

"-there is still the fact that she nearly _bleed_ _out_ from the lacerations to her right leg, _or_ that her fractured ribs could have _punctured_ her _lung_,"

"Tamaki, stop, I know-"

"- or the simple fact that the cut on her shoulder is from a _bullet_ which, had the shooter aimed a few inches lower, would have pierced her heart. The fact that she is alive is a miracle!" Tamaki spread his arms out in exclamation and jumped to his feet.

"Shut up, Tamaki I know!" Kyoya snarled, quickly standing. The two best friends regarded each other for a while.

Tamaki shook his head. "You're in love with her Kyoya. Don't be a coward. Accept it."

.

.

"Accept what?" Amaya asked with a frown. The figment glanced away from her in response. She followed her line of sight and saw an Island.

"Come on. We're not finished yet." The figment began to swim to it.

Amaya rolled her eyes but did the same.

"So, what are we doing here?" Amaya said, glancing around. It was strange, the Island didn't have sandy beaches or anything like that. It was made up of just one long stretch of green grass.

"You chose to reject Kiyoshi, even though life would be easier if you accepted him. You chose to play the fool. Now you must chose again." The figment stated.

Amaya felt a presence behind her and swerved. There, standing in his usual confidence, was Kyoya.

"Ootori?" Amaya breathed. She moved to him but immediately felt a hand clamp down on her wrist and viciously yank her backwards. An arm wrapped itself around her neck in a choke hold.

"What the hell?" She spluttered. She grabbed the offending limb and pulled it forward. At the same time she doubled over, causing her attacker to fly over her back.

The figment dusted herself off and gazed at her dully.

"What are you doing?" Amaya demanded.

"You are not worthy of him, Amaya. Do you think he wants you anywhere near him? He thinks you're a whore, remember?" The figment spun and kicked at her, her foot colliding against her temple. Amaya fell, dazed. The figment moved over her and made to stomp on her head but a Amaya rolled away and got to her feet shakily.

"Cheap shot." Amaya said.

"You would know."

Amaya snarled and attacked her doppelganger. She landed a punch in her gut but the figment moved with the punch and flipped backwards, kicking Amaya under the chin as she did. Again, Amaya fell.

"You can't beat me. You don't want to. You know I'm right." The figment said, her foot connecting with Amaya's stomach causing her to yelp. The action caused something to poke her upper thigh.

"You're pathetic. If you can't even fight then what's the point? That's all you were ever any good at." Her foot swung back and hit Amaya again.

"Not true." Amaya wheezed.

"Isn't it?"

"No. I'm also good at improvising."

Suddenly Amaya's hand swooped out and grasped her assailant's ankle. She mercilessly pulled it towards her. The figment stumbled and Amaya knocked her other foot out from under her, causing her to tumble to the ground with a crash.

Amaya drew the dagger from her belt. Without hesitation she straddled the figment and plunged the blade into her heart. She watched her own eyes widen in shock.

"I am better than you." She spat.

The figment smiled. "I know. Now you do too."

Amaya faltered. "You said I had to realise..."

"Realise you own self worth. But that's not all."

Amaya scowled before her breath caught. "Kyoya."

She looked over her shoulder but there was no one to be seen.

"Where's Ootori? Where is he?" She demanded.

"You can't have him if you keep running. A coward would stay here. A fool would wake up." The figments voice was raspy.

"So, what's it to be, Amaya? Coward?" She started to cough, flecks of blood on her lips, her teeth bloody.

" Or Fool?" She pushed out with her final breath.

.

.

"Don't be a coward? I don't think you are exactly in a position to lecture others about not accepting their feelings for someone!" Kyoya spat back at Tamaki.

"What are you talking about? What feelings haven't I accepted?" Tamaki asked with a puzzled frown.

"Why are you shouting in here?!" Mori demanded, storming into the hospital room.

"It's nothing, Tamaki is just being an idiot." Kyoya muttered.

"Mommy's in love and he won't say it!" Tamaki complained.

"In love? With who? It better not be Amaya." Mori warned.

"Oh would you please desist with this outrageous protectiveness you have over her! I'm not going to do anything to hurt her!" Kyoya protested, ignoring the sudden spike on one of the machine's screens.

"How do I know that for sure?" Mori shot back.

"Be quiet, all of you, you're making lots of noise." Honey said darkly from the entrance.

"He's started it!" Tamaki, Kyoya and Mori argued in unison.

"All of you better shut the hell up, or I will get out of this bed and kick you out myself!" Amaya warned, slowly sitting up in her hospital bed.

The four boys went silent as they looked at her in shock.

Amaya sighed happily. "Ah, that's better."

.

.

_**A/N: So did you like it? I tried **__**really**__** hard to get this the way I wanted so please, please, please, tell me what you thought of it. It would mean a lot of you gave me your opinion. **_

_**One chapter left, I can't believe how quickly the time went. **_

_**Thank you for reading, **_

_**IvyN.O**_


	31. Evil Genius

"I'm bored." Amaya complained. She had regained consciousness a whole two days ago. And by God was there nothing to do.

"Aw, do you want us to entertain you?" The twins asked mischievously.

Amaya pouted. "I just want to go home. I don't get why I'm still here." She folded her arms irritably.

Hikaru held up a finger. "One, you are still really injured."

Kaoru held up one of his own. "And two your high as a freaking kite right now because of those pain meds."

Amaya sat forward. "Listen here, I am perfectly fine. And furthermore...why do you keep swaying?"

The twins started chuckling and Hikaru rustled her hair.

"You're cute when you're out of it."

Amaya batted his hand away. "Shush. I'll kick your ass...stupid demon boy."

"Amaya, to be honest, for the first time since I met you I'm pretty confident that we could actually take you." Kaoru teased.

Amaya laughed. "You challenging me? Fine, let's go." She acted as though she was going to get out of the bed and the twins quickly pushed her back down.

"What are you doing?" They demanded.

She stared at them in confusion before realisation hit her.

"Oh yeah, my leg's still wonky isn't it?"

Kaoru and Hikaru looked at each with raised eyebrows.

"Stoned Amaya's pretty ditzy." She noted with a giggle.

The twins smirked. "Don't worry, We'll make sure you don't do anything to stupid." They gave her one of their side hugs, gentler than usual of course.

"Thanks guys. I love you, you know." She said like she was drunk.

"We love you too Amaya." They said with a laugh.

"Even if I'm not sure you're actually human." She added.

.

.

Amaya was roused from her sleep by a burning sensation in her leg. She bit her lip and took a deep breath, which of course only caused a stabbing pain from her ribs.

Looks like my meds are wearing off again.

She opened her eyes, debating whether she would prefer the clarity of agony or the dull numbness of the anaesthetics she was being administered.

She knew she could hold out for a while yet before the pain began to fringe on intolerable.

"Ah, you're awake." A voice said from her bedside.

She turned her head and saw Yoshio Ootori regarding her with a calm expression.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting. I had some cranial swelling that needed tending." She said, sitting up.

"Yes, I understand. Naturally I expect you to make me a priority in future." He said smoothly.

She gave him a sharp look. A joke? That's...fringing on disturbing.

Maybe I never woke up, She mused.

"Well, I am able to prioritise you now. What seems to be bothering you?" She asked.

He gave a slight shrug. "Nothing, per say. I merely came to acquaint myself with your case. You have taken quite the beating."

"Yeah, in retrospect the windshield dive may not have been the wisest move. Effective, however."

"Indeed it was. The men have been apprehended and are currently awaiting sentencing, I'm sure you'd like to know."

"Will you be needing me to testify?" She asked.

He gave a polite smile. "Due to the rather public nature of your capture of them witnesses are not in short supply."

She chuckled and immediately winced. His eyebrows moved slightly upwards.

"Would you like me to administer some more aesthetic?" He said.

She shook her head. "I can handle it. I'd rather keep my head clear for a little while longer."

"Understandable. It is, after all, a mind better than most. You were correct about the Datkin company. The payout for the shareholders was rather generous. A thank you, their Chairman or rather woman, described it as, for showing them loyalty during a difficult time. It seems their new leader is even more competent than her father before her. Now those who sold their shares are buying them back for three times what they got for them."

Amaya smirked. "My, my, you have to be careful Mr Ootori, keep this up and you might end up owing me one."

His mouth twitched in amusement. Damn it all, he was starting to like this girl.

"Considering you are not paying for you medical care I think we are even. Now if you'll excuse me I have a meeting to attend." He rose and fixed his suit jacket. He nodded at her and moved to leave.

"You're welcome." She called after him, her voice teasing.

Oh yes, he liked her.

.

.

Kyoya sat at his desk working away at his homework, trying not to think about her. He hadn't gone back since she had awoken, Tamaki's words barred him from that. Kyoya didn't dare go until he disillusioned himself.

I will become the heir of this company, I will not be a fool, he ordered himself.

_You're in love with her Kyoya._

"Kyoya." His breath hitched as he heard his father call him from his bedroom doorway. He quickly stood and bowed to him.

"Father. Is something wrong?" Kyoya asked, watching the older man carefully.

"No. I came to discuss a matter with you. Amaya Morinozuka."

Surprise flickered through him. "Of course. How is her recovery going?"

"Well, she will be discharged from the hospital within a week, however she will be wheel chair bound for a while, until her upper body is capable of supporting her on crutches."

"That's good. No lasting injuries?"

"No. Which is just as well. It would have been a waste had she lost any of her physical or mental capabilities. Which is what I came to talk to you about. She has shown impressive deduction skills. Skills that prevented me from making a costly business mistake. She has shown potential. I suggest you get her on our side."

Kyoya blinked. "How would you like me to do that?"

His father gave him a withering look. "If you wish to inherit this company you need to learn how to achieve things without instruction. See that it's done." He didn't say another word, leaving his son to think over his new orders.

.

.

Kyoya entered Amaya's hospital room. She was asleep, he imagined that she had just been administered drugs. He closed the door behind him, wanting his privacy.

His eyes took her in, as they always did in moments like this. He still couldn't believe the change he saw in her now. The pale tint to her skin, the tangles in her hair, the bandages that wrapped intermittently around her body.

She had nearly died. That was the unbearable truth that he had refused to acknowledge but that his best friend had forced him to see.

The lump in his throat started to become more pronounced. He shook his head in an attempt to dislodge it. He took in a shaky breath and sat down beside her.

He ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes. He needed to calm himself.

"Kyoya?" A weak voice said. His eyes snapped open. Amaya was looking at him through bleary eyes, yes, he was sure she had been given meds.

"Sorry did I wake you?"

"Are you crying?" She asked, ignoring his question, her voice was thick with sleep and childlike.

"No. I'm not." And he wasn't, he was merely on the verge.

"I'm glad, I wouldn't like to make you cry. Would you cry at my funeral?" She said with a head tilt.

He smirked. "I suppose I would."

She nodded as she digested the news. She really was a lot more wide eyed and innocent when she was stoned, he mused.

"Then I guess you'll have to die first. That way I won't make you cry." She said matter-of-factly.

"And what about you, would you not be upset if I died?" He questioned lightly. He was enjoying the strange but comfortable nature of this conversation.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course_ I_ would. But at least it's me whose hurt not you." She said simply.

He smiled. This was her caring side, the side that rarely reared its head so obviously.

I suppose it's just as well she won't remember any of this, I imagine she'd be mortified for speaking so carelessly, he thought to himself.

A thought struck him, she won't remember any of this.

He stood up and moved over to her.

"Do you really worry about hurting me?" He asked with a chuckle.

She stared up at him. "Yes, course that doesn't mean I don't do it."

He laughed. "No it doesn't. But don't worry, I always get even."

Her brow furrowed, "How?"

"By doing this." He stated and touched her lips with his. He felt her tense before melting into the kiss, his thumb moved up to caress her unhurt left cheek, her hand buried itself in his hair.

She's a surprisingly good kisser considering how out of it she is, he mused.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The pulled apart to see a blushing nurse in at the entrance.

"Sorry to interrupt, but it's time to top up your anaesthetic." She gave them a knowing smile and Kyoya let her pass to get to Amaya's side.

"Top up, your anaesthetic..." Kyoya said slowly.

In other words, she is, and has been, completely clear headed for the last few minutes.

Amaya gave him a wink over the nurses shoulder and he bit back a smirk.

Once the nurse left Kyoya turned to Amaya with a raised eyebrow. She raised her hands in defence.

"What, you looked like you had something to say. I figured you'd be more willing to talk if you though I was partially in Wonderland." She said with a grin.

He shook his head, but leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"What have I gotten myself into?" He wondered at her, causing her to laugh.

"That's what happens when you fall for the evil genius." She said.

He laughed and brushed his lips off hers.

"A broken genius." He said.

"Hey! I'm only temporarily..." Her lids drooped as the painkillers began to take hold,

"...broken."She mumbled as sleep took her.

He smiled and stroked her hair.

Falling for an evil genius. What a fools move.

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**Well, that's it. I officially pronounce this story finished. Now to figure out how to put it down as complete on fanfiction...**_

_**So...I don't know what to say. Other than of course, Thank you, thank you, thank you!**_

_**This has been amazing and I loved writing this and getting your feedback. I started checking my e-mail first thing in the morning just to see how this story was doing. And the response has been great. So thank you for making this story so much fun to write! There is one person I would like to thank in particular, MarinaStryke, you have reviewed practically every chapter since you started following and I can't even begin to describe to you how much I looked forward to hearing what you thought of it. **_

_**I have a few other plot lines for other Ouran stories that continue on from this one, although Amaya and Kyoya are not the focus they are in them. I don't know when I'll start posting them as I have to hammer out the details before I start. So, who knows, you might get to see a bit more of these two as a proper couple. **_

_**One last thing is the one shots. I have nearly finished Amaya's back story and due to request by one inu001 I have written a Kyoya-Amaya chapter to the song Hurricane by Panic at the Disco. I have a lot of fun writing these and I know the back story is taking me forever but that's just because of the amount of things I envisioned in it. Normally I should have them up in a few days.**_

_**So please if you have any one shots you would like me to write, either in relation to this or just in relation to Ouran tell me about them and I will gladly do so. **_

_**Thank you for everything, and, for the last time here anyway, Please Review.**_

_**IvyNO **_


	32. I am a Pushover, Here's an Epilogue

_**Please Read First!**_

_**I had a plan you know. **_

_**This story first, then I'd write my next Ouran fan fiction with Amaya and Kyoya goodness in THAT. HOWEVER you beautiful, wonderful readers of mine made me feel terribly guilty as you all told me you had been looking forward to some of that in THIS story. And the whole Mori finding out scene. So I held out for a while before giving in to the guilt and wrote this little Epilogue. And I do mean little. It's Mori finding out. Consider it a teaser until I start my next Ouran fic. Which will be a MUCH longer fic, with lots of interesting people all of whom have been mentioned in this story although they have not been major parts. In fact you've even had a few described to you, cause I love stuff like that. **_

_**Any guesses as to who will be showing up and causing all sorts of trouble? **_

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"Freedom!" Amaya screamed happily, throwing her arms into the air as her brother pushed her out of the hospital doors. She had finally been released a week and a half after coming out of the coma.

"Careful." Mori warned causing Amaya to roll her eyes, she was perfectly fine. Okay, so maybe her ribs were hurting like hell after throwing her arms in the air...and maybe she could feel a burning sensation in her shoulder now...

Like she said. _Perfectly fine._

"Don't exert yourself by worrying over me, big brother. You'll give yourself wrinkles."

Takashi huffed a scoffed but she could see amusement playing on his features.

"You'll give us _all_ wrinkles, Amaya." A new voice teased.

Amaya forced her mouth not to break into a full blown grin. "Ootori, I didn't know you were attending my jail break."

"Jail break? Do you truly find my father's hospital that unpleasant?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Why are you here?" Takashi said in a tired tone.

"I came to see Amaya off. Don't worry, I won't be attempting to make off with your sister."

"You couldn't if you tried." Mori said simply.

Amaya groaned and banged the heel of her palm against her forehead in exasperation. There was only so much of this testosterone wrestling a girl could watch before she snapped.

"Alright, that is it. Kyoya, I know we said we'd wait but screw it, I'm telling him."

"Tell me what?" Takashi demanded.

"I don't know if that's wise." Kyoya warned ambivalently.

"I don't care about wise. I'm sick of this little squabble you two have going on. So I'm ending it. Takashi, I'm dating the Shadow King. React unfavourably and I will get out of this chair and walk back to my apartment, broken leg or not." Amaya stated the last bit in a tone that didn't make him doubt it for a moment.

Takashi froze and stared at her in disbelief. His gazer flickered to Kyoya and then to his sister. And then back again.

Kyoya watched with a blank expression, attempting to hide his anxiety with how this news would be received.

Takashi took a deep breath and for a moment he looked at Kyoya as though he was going to go all Morinozuka on his ass. The younger boy's jaw tightened on reflex as he felt his heart rate spike.

And then Takashi simply sighed. He began to roll Amaya forward, towards the car that was waiting to pick them up.

"Okay." He said in his monotonous tone.

"Okay?" Amaya asked in surprise.

"Okay." Takashi confirmed.

Amaya blinked and nodded her lips pursed. "Okay."

She looked at Kyoya and winked at him causing his mouth to twitch in amusement. As they passed him he brushed his hand over hers.

Mori helped Amaya into the car and then assisted their driver in putting the wheelchair into the booth. Returning from the back of the car he hissed in Kyoya's ear,

"Hurt her and deal with me."

Kyoya's eyebrows flickered upwards.

"Likewise." He stated with his host smile plastered to his face. Mori didn't respond and got into the car. Kyoya watched them leave with an amused stare.

Wasn't it funny that someone as intelligent as him would go for the girl with a master of martial arts for a protective older brother.

He paused and chuckled. Who was he fooling, next to Amaya, Mori was hardly a threat at all.

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_**It was too short, wasn't it? Fine, fine, fine. Here's something that is based in Kyoya's last year in Ouran, Amaya is all better and is dealing with a particularly obsessive guest of Kyoya's. It's not important to the main story line, it's just a bit of fun. **_

_**.**_

_**.**_

"Sorry, we're closed." Amaya called, not looking up from her place at one of the music room's tables. She was waiting for Kyoya to come out from getting changed out of their latest Cos play. They did Knights again, rather amusing if she may say so herself.

Either way they had a date.

"Oh, Amaya-chan. I didn't think you would be here." A light voice said in surprise. She glanced up to see one of their regular guests, however not one of her students, standing awkwardly in the door frame. She was pretty, with her brown hair in pony tails on either side of her head. She looked like a child, and at the age of fifteen she was two years Amaya's junior.

"Can I help you Miss?" Amaya asked politely.

The girl blushed, flustered. "I, I wanted to speak to Kyoya-senpai, Tamaki-senpai said that he would be here."

Oh _did he_ now? Amaya thought irritably, Well, it seems like I might need to have words with _Tamaki-Senpai_...

"I see. May I ask why you are looking for him?" Amaya smiled sweetly. She knew, but she wanted to hear it before she reacted.

"I, well..." The girl bit her lip and gave Amaya a sheepish smile. "I think I may be in love with him." She squeaked her eyes shining with the romantic ideals of a child.

Amaya's jaw tensed. Well, that is obviously not going to happen.

She casually began to pack up her belongings as her mind attempted to decide how to react. It wasn't this girl's fault that she was inadvertently moving in on her boyfriend. Their relationship was not common knowledge, the club ran smoother is Kyoya appeared to be available. And she did not want to over react as that might tip this girl off on her relationship with Kyoya.

A friend's face flashed in her mind and she smirked, knowing how he or his sister would react in this situation. She considered the girl with a tilt of her head. Not much of a threat, the tactic would probably prove fruitful.

Amaya rose from her seat and pouted sadly at her.

"Oh dear, are you quite taken with him?" She asked sadly, a playful look in her eyes.

The girl blanched, surprised by the slow and precise way that Amaya was approaching her.

"I, I think so." She stuttered backing up against the wall. Amaya's hand hit the door shut behind her, trapping her. She stood very close to her, their breath mingling.

"That's disappointing." She murmured.

The girl's breathing rose. "W-what...?"

Amaya pretended not to hear her, her free hand coming up to push one of the mousy locks behind the terrified girl's ear. She inched closer to her, their bodies incredibly close now.

"Such beautiful hair." She whispered absentmindedly. Amaya's eyes had a faraway look before glancing down to meet the smaller girl's gaze.

"Did you say something?" Amaya said softly.

"Eh, I, eh, no!" she squeaked before diving under Amaya's arm and making for the door.

"I'm, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have, I mean, I..." The girl flushed and yanked open the exit, running down the hall as quick as her little legs would carry her.

"Oh dear, It seems you have been rejected." A deeper voice stated amused.

Amaya chuckled and turned to Kyoya. "Yes, I'm quite disappointed, I had hoped for so much and received so little."

He smirked and travelled the distance between them. "Is this what happens when I make you wait for too long? You attempt to steal the innocence of young girls?"His thumb came up to caress her cheek.

"Why, what do you do for fun?" Amaya asked.

He laughed and kissed her neck. "Honestly though, why were you flirting with her?" He questioned lightly.

Amaya swallowed at his touch. With an air of nonchalance she answered. "She had come to confess her love to you. Consider that me staking my claim."

He pulled back and raised an eyebrow. "By terrifying her that you are going to have your wicked way with her should she return?"

"Something like that." Amaya murmured against his lips. She kissed him gently and he responded sweetly. After a moment she felt him falter.

Before she could ask what was wrong he scooped her up in his arms, causing her to yelp.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck.

He didn't reply. Instead he lay her down on the couch and leaned over her. He climbed on above her, a hand on either side of her head, one of his legs lay atop of hers, the other hung off the sofa, supporting his weight.

"Consider this me staking _my_ claim." He told her, his lips claiming her neck again.

She chuckled and closed her eyes.

"If you're not careful Ootori I might think you were jealous of my flirting."

He pulled up from her collar bone. "And if you are not careful, Miss Morinozuka, I might have to leave my mark on you so that others know _not_ to listen to your flirting."

Amaya raised an eyebrow and rolled over, knocking them both to the ground, this time with her on top.

"Are you sure you want to take me on Ootori?" Amaya asked with an evil grin.

He sat up suddenly and wrapped his arms around her back, bringing her tightly against him.

"I already have."

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**Now, that's all I'm giving you, for now ;) **_

_**As always thank you and I hope you enjoyed my little treat. **_

_**One Shot Idea's always welcome,**_

_**IvyNO**_


	33. Quick Note

_**This is just a quick message to let you all know I have a new Ouran Fic up which is sort of like a continuation of this one. If you are interested in seeing Amaya and Kyoya as a couple it'll be in there along with some new character who will be running amuck. **_

_**Thanks for being such a wonderful group of readers,**_

_**IvyNO**_


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